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Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty-five,  by 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York. 


TO 


THE  HONORABLE  WILLIAM  C.  PRESTON, 

OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

A  grateful  recollection  of  your  many  acts  of  kindness  ex- 
tended to  me  during  my  course  in  the  South  Carolina  College, 
while  preparing  to  enter  upon  the  walks  of  life  which  you  al- 
ready adorned,  and  the  cheering  encouragement  which  you 
gave  me  when  engaged  in  the  study  of  a  profession  which 
your  eloquence  has  so  nohly  illustrated,  inspire  the  wish  to 
leave  some  recorded  expression  of  my  exalted  estimate  of  your 
genius  and  your  character,  and  I  therefore 

3tt0rrite  tn  ipro  ttjis  $nhnttf  nf  mij  Ipmltfi 

HENRY  W.  MILLIARD. 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  February,  1855. 


CONTENTS, 


THE  SUB-TREASURY  SYSTEM. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Alabama,  January, 
1839 Page  9 

THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
January  6th,  1846 51 

PAY  OF  TROOPS  TO  BE  EMPLOYED  AGAINST  MEXICO. 
A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
July  16th,  1846 78 

THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
January  5th,  1847 84 

RELIEF  FOR  IRELAND. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
March  3d,  1847 114 

THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
December  18th,  1847 118 

THE  MISSION  TO  ROME. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
March  4th,  1848 V/. .' ',  | 125 

A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON— POLICY  OF  THE  ADMINIS- 
TRATION. 
A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 

March  30th,  1848 129      S 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
April  3d,  1848 151 


VI  CONTENTS. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  POLICY  OF  PRESIDENT  POLK. 
A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
July  24th,  1848 Page  155 

GOVERNMENTS  FOR  THE  NEW  TERRITORIES.— THE  NORTH 

AND  THE  SOUTH. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
February  10th,  1849 195 

SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION. 

Remarks  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  De- 
cember 12th,  1849 220 

ADMISSION  OF  CALIFORNIA.— PRESIDENT  TAYLOR'S  POLICY. 
/        A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 

February  14th,  1850 236 

EXPLANATION— PERSONAL  AND  POLITICAL. 
A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States. 
March  7th,  1850 262 

DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  TAYLOR. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
July  10th,  1850 276 

BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 
A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
August  28th,  1850 281 

POLICY  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  TOWARD  THE  INDIANS. 
A  Speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
February  20th,  1851 315 

VINDICATION  OF  MR.  WEBSTER. 

Remarks  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  Feb- 
ruary 28th,  1851 319 

ADDRESS  TO  CONSTITUENTS. 

A  Paper  addressed  to  the  People  of  the  Second  Congressional  District  of 
Alabama,  declining  a  re-election  to  Congress,  December  3d,  1850 325 

GENERAL  TAYLOR'S  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY. 
A  Speech  delivered  at  the  Buena  Vista  Festival  in  the  Chinese  Museum, 
Philadelphia,  February  22d,  1848 333 


CONTENTS.'  Vll 

MASSACHUSETTS  AND  THE  UNION. 

A  Speech  delivered  at  a  Dinner  given  to  a  Committee  of  Congress  by  the 
City  Council  of  Boston,  March  13th,  1848 Page  343 

AMERICAN  INDUSTRY. 

A  Speech  delivered  before  the  American  Institute,  at  Castle  Garden,  New 
York,  October  14th,  1850 348 

THE  AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT. 

A  Speech  delivered  in  the  Musical  Fund  Hall,  Philadelphia,  January  3d, 
1851 357 

CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

An  Oration  delivered  in  the  Representatives'  Hall,  before  the  Legislature 
of  Alabama  and  the  Citizens  of  Tuscaloosa,  December  7th,  1832 383 

THE  DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  HARRISON. 

An  Oration  delivered  before  the  Citizens  of  Montgomery,  Alabama,  April 
21st,  1841 397 

THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY. 
An  Oration  delivered  before  the  Citizens  of  Montgomery,  Alabama,  Sep- 
tember, 1852 410 

DANIEL  WEBSTER— HIS  GENIUS  AND  CHARACTER. 
An  Address  before  the  Literary  Club  and  Citizens  of  Montgomery,  Ala- 
bama, December,  1854 456 

WOMAN— HER  TRUE  SPHERE. 

An  Address  delivered  at  the  Commencement  of  La  Grange  Female  College, 
La  Grange,  Georgia,  July  12th,  1854 476 


SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


THE  SUB-TREASURY  SYSTEM. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  ALABAMA, 
JANUARY,  1839. 

The  Resolutions  being  under  consideration,  and  after  Mr.  Smith,  of  Madison, 
had  addressed  the  House,  Mr.  Hilliard  rose  and  said, 

MR.  SPEAKER, — When  I  survey  the  magnitude  of 
the  question  before  us,  and  observe  how  deeply  it  af- 
fects the  public  mind,  I  experience  a  sense  of  respons- 
ibility which  is  almost  painful.  I  am  about  to  par- 
ticipate in  a  discussion  which  has  convulsed  the  whole 
country,  which  involves  the  largest  interests  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  which  must  yet  ex- 
ert a  powerful  influence,  for  good  or  for  evil,  upon 
their  fortunes. 

We  are,  sir,  in  the  midst  of  a  revolution ;  not  a 
revolution  conducted  by  arms,  and  accomplishing  its 
purposes  by  the  shedding  of  blood,  but  a  revolution 
in  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  a  great  people ;  a  rev- 
olution, not  the  less  to  be  feared  because  it  does  not 
now  call  physical  force  to  its  aid,  for  it  is  moving 
the  foundations  of  society,  and  it  is  impossible  to  say 
where  its  waves  shall  be  stayed. 

Every  thing  established  and  venerable  is  threaten- 
ed with  destruction ;  all  that  wisdom  has  approved 


10  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

is  assaulted ;  the  most  revered  lessons  of  experience 
are  despised;  all  must  bow  before  that  spirit  of 
change  which  delights  in  nothing  so  much  as  experi- 
ments upon  human  society. 

I  look  with  the  most  unaffected  anxiety  upon  the 
present  condition  of  our  country.  It  seems  to  me  to 
bear  a  strong;  resemblance  to  that  which  the  French 

o 

nation  exhibited  before  the  breaking  forth  of  that 
convulsion  which  shook  their  ancient  institutions 
with  such  terrible  and  destructive  power.  Every 
philosophical  inquirer  consents  to  the  opinion  that 
the  writings  of  Voltaire  and  others  of  his  school  pre- 
cipitated that  nation  into  its  unparalleled  revolution. 
Mariners  are  accustomed  to  judge  of  the  state  of  the 
elements  by  very  small  signs.  The  flight  of  the  sea- 
bird  over  the  mast,  cleaving  the  air  with  its  rapid 
wing,  is  regarded  as  an  admonition  to  prepare  for  the 
gathering  storm ;  and  when  this  solitary  messenger, 
hurrying  before  the  fury  of  the  tempest,  is  driven  far 
upon  land,  the  sailor's  wife  utters  a  prayer  for  his 
protection,  for  she  knows  that  the  hour  of  his  danger 
is  at  hand.  Let  us  apply  the  same  philosophy,  for 
it  is  a  wise  one,  to  the  affairs  of  our  country.  Ap- 
peals are  daily  made  to  the  worst  passions  of  the 
people,  and  men,  for  selfish  purposes,  attempt  to  cre- 
ate artificial  and  dangerous  distinctions  in  society, 
and  to  array  one  class  against  another  class.  A  want 
of  respect  for  the  laws  is  constantly  manifested,  and 
tnat  deep  veneration  for  our  institutions  which  once 
characterized  us  as  a  people  is  rapidly  passing  away ; 
that  uncalculating  attachment  to  the  country  and  all 
that  belongs  to  it,  which  may  well  be  styled  uthe 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  11 

cheap  defense  of  nations,"  is  losing  its  power.  While 
I  speak,  sir,  the  Capitol  of  one  of  the  states  of  this 
Union  is  held  by  an  armed  mob,  the  representatives 
of  the  people  have  been  expelled  from  their  seats,  and 
the  governor  has  been  compelled  to  order  out  the 
military  force  of  the  state  to  restore  order.  These 
are  indications  of  an  unsound  state  of  the  public 
mind ;  they  are  the  small  signs  which  precede  the 
coming  storm.  Those  who  are  engaged  in  the  work 
of  disturbing  the  order  of  society  should  remember 
that  they  may  call  up  spirits  which  will  not  go  down 
at  their  bidding.  Neptune  may  be  roused  to  shake 
the  sea  and  land,  but  it  may  not  be  easy  to  prevail 
on  him  to  wave  his  trident,  and  restore  tranquillity 
and  sunshine.  I  am  satisfied  that  a  perseverance  in 
these  disorganizing  efforts  will,  in  time,  involve  us  in 
the  utmost  confusion  and  anarchy.  Standing,  then, 
where  I  do,  the  representative  of  a  free  and  intelli- 
gent people,  honored  with  their  confidence,  and  anx- 
ious to  discharge  faithfully  the  trust  reposed  in  me, 
I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  meet  every  question  of  pub- 
lic interest  with  a  full  and  candid  expression  of  my 
views.  The  scheme  which  the  resolutions  under  con- 
sideration propose  to  sustain  is  one  of  those  which 
contemplates  fundamental  and  serious  changes  in  our 
political  affairs.  I  shall  endeavor  to  bestow  upon  it 
that  calm  and  fair  consideration  which  its  importance 
deserves.  All  great  questions  ought  to  be  examined 
with  candor ;  mere  party  considerations  should  sink ; 
and  we  should  search  for  truth  under  the  guidance 
of  a  broad  and  enlightened  patriotism.  Discussions 
conducted  in  this  spirit  are  not  idle  exhibitions ;  they 


12  THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM. 

are  contests  in  which  error  is  beaten  down.  The 
halls  of  deliberative  assemblies  are  battle-fields  upon 
which  the  rights  of  mankind  have  been  vindicated 
and  set  up,  and  the  stormy  debates  with  which  they 
resound  have  shaken  thrones  and  made  kings  turn 
pale  with  fear.  We  have  been  charged  with  a  dis- 
position to  avoid  this  contest.  I,  sir,  disclaim  any 
such  inclination.  I  may  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  err 
in  opinion ;  I  may  find  myself  unsupported  here,  but 
I  shall  not  avoid  discussion.  I  claim  no  forbearance, 
I  ask  no  quarter.  I  have  always  admired  the  con- 
duct of  Camillus,  when,  upon  his  return  to  Rome,  he 
found  his  countrymen  counting  out  gold  to  their  en- 
emies as  the  price  of  their  liberty:  he  interrupted  the 
inglorious  negotiation,  and,  striking  his  hand  upon 
his  sword,  said  c  c  that  the  liberty  of  his  country  must 
be  bought  with  steel,  and  not  with  gold."  Sir,  the 
principles  which  I  hold,  in  common  with  other  gen- 
tlemen upon  this  floor,  can  live  in  the  midst  of  bat- 
tle ;  they  will  survive  it ;  they  will  come  out  of  it 
strengthened  by  the  conflict. 

As  to  the  spirit  with  which  I  enter  into  this  de- 
bate, I  am  sure  that  I  claim  nothing  more  than  what 
is  due  me  when  I  say  that  I  seek  only  to  know  what 
system  is  best  for  my  country. 

When  I  become  satisfied  that  I  have  found  it,  I 
shall,  without  any  ostentatious  display  of  patriotism, 
give  it  my  hearty  support,  without  stopping  to  in- 
quire as  to  its  paternity.  Indeed,  as  to  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  so 
warmly  commended  by  the  gentleman  from  Madison, 
it  would  be  no  light  task  to  undertake  to  ascertain  its 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  13 

paternity.  It  is  said  that  seven  cities  contended  for 
the  honor  of  having  given  birth  to  Homer : 

"  Smyrna,  Chios,  Colophon,  Salamis,  Rhodes,  Argos,  Athens, 
Orbis  de  patria  certat,  Homer  tua." 

I  think  there  are  as  many  aspirants  to  the  equivocal 
honor  of  having  given  birth  to  the  sub-treasury 
scheme — or,  if  gentlemen  will  pardon  me,  I  will  say 
the  constitutional  independent  treasury  scheme.  That, 
I  believe,  from  the  latest  advices,  is  the  approved 
name  which  its  friends  have  bestowed  upon  it. 

I  am  aware  that  it  is  most  industriously  attempted 
to  appropriate  to  Mr.  Calhoun  the  honor  of  having 
originated  it;  there  must,  however,  rest  upon  the 
minds  of  his  friends  some  painful  doubts. 

In  looking  over  a  small  work,  written  by  Mr.  Gal- 
latin  in  1830,  upon  banks  and  currency,  I  find  the 
following  paragraph : 

"It  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  acknowledged,  that 
inasmuch  as  the  revenue  may  be  collected,  and  the 
public  moneys  may  be  kept  in  public  chests,  and 
transferred  to  distant  places  without  the  assistance  of 
banks,  and  as  all  this  was  once  done  in  the  United 
States,  and  continues  to  be  done  in  several  countries, 
without  any  public  bank,  it  can  not  be  asserted  that 
those  institutions  are  absolutely  necessary  for  those 
purposes,  if  we  take  the  word  4  necessary1  in  that 
strict  sense  which  has  been  alluded  to.  All  this  may 
be  done,  though  with  a  greater  risk,  and  in  a  more 
inconvenient  and  expensive  manner.  Public  chests 
might  be  established,  and  public  receivers,  or  sub- 
treasurers,  might  be  appointed  in  the  same  places 
where  there  are  now  offices  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 


14  THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM. 

States,  and  specie  might  be  transported  from  place  to 
place,  as  the  public  service  required  it,  or  inland  bills 
of  exchange  purchased  from  individuals." 

Here  is  a  sketch  of  the  plan. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  too  warm  a  friend  to  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  to  employ  his  powers  in  origina- 
ting any  system  which  should  render  the  government 
independent  of  it ;  and  a  plan  so  wild  as  this — so  un- 
suited  to  the  habits  and  interests  of  our  people — could 
have  found  no  favor  in  his  eyes  so  long  as  there  re- 
mained the  least  hope  of  sustaining  that  splendid  in- 
stitution. It  is  idle  to  search  his  speeches — to  call 
up  any  thing  which  fell  from  his  lips,  with  the  hope 
of  discovering  some  evidence  which  may  persuade  the 
world  that  he  favored  this  system  at  an  early  period. 
The  sensation  caused  by  the  intelligence  that  he  had 
signified  his  approbation  of  it  when  proposed  as  an 
executive  measure,  sufficiently  contradicts  it.  Gen- 
eral Gordon  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  the  author  of 
the  scheme.  He  certainly  introduced  it  to  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress,  not  with  any  hope  of  its  adoption, 
but  as  a  test  of  the  strength  of  the  deposit  system. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  measure  was  voted 
down  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  very  gen- 
tlemen who  now  hold  it  forth  to  the  country  as  the 
wisest  and  purest  scheme  which  has  ever  been  exhib- 
ited, and  denounce  with  fierce  zeal  all  who  are  un- 
able to  perceive  its  beauties  or  comprehend  its  merits. 
The  plan  is  said  to  have  been  presented  to  General 
Gordon  by  Condy  Raguet,  who  comes  in  for  his  share 
of  the  honor  of  its  production.  He  finds  a  competi- 
tor in  the  late  President  of  the  United  States,  who 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  15 

presented  the  scheme  to  the  world  in  a  letter  to  the 
"  Globe."  But  I  believe  that  public  opinion  inclines 
to  lay  the  system  at  the  feet  of  Mr.  Benton  as  his 
own  fairly-begotten  offspring ;  and,  sir,  I  agree  fully 
with  some  one  who  declares  that  if  the  project  pos- 
sesses half  the  excellence  claimed  for  it  by  its  friends 
— if  it  is  so  replete  with  blessings  to  the  American 
people,  then  its  author,  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  de- 
serves from  their  hands  a  statue  of  gold.  But  the 
gentleman  from  Madison  assigns  to  it  a  much  earlier 
birth ;  he  believes  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitu- 
tion contemplated  it. 

I  shall  not,  sir,  attempt  to  settle  these  conflicting 
claims.  No  matter  where  the  scheme  originated,  it 
seems  to  me  to  come  in  a  most  questionable  shape. 
From  my  political  relations  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  I  cer- 
tainly was  not  prepared  to  look  upon  any  proposition 
made  by  him  with  very  partial  eyes,  but  I  trust  that 
I  was  able  to  survey  his  measures  with  some  fairness 
and  candor.  When  I  first  read  the  message  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  proposing  to  Con- 
gress the  adoption  of  the  sub-treasury  scheme,  I  was 
in  a  small  village  distant  from  my  political  friends. 
Uninfluenced  by  the  uttered  sentiment  of  a  human 
being,  I  calmly  examined  it,  and  pronounced  it  at 
once  to  be  a  system  that  looked  to  the  establishment 
of  a  colossal  despotism.  I  have  reviewed  it  since — 
I  have  bestowed  upon  it  much  reflection ;  but  the  first 
impression  has  deepened  j  my  sentiments  respecting 
it  are  unchanged. 

I  am  not  insensible,  sir,  to  the  disadvantages  to 
which  I  am  subjected  by  this  opinion.  I  am  aware 


16  THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM. 

that  it  leaves  me  still  in  a  minority.  Let  it  be  so. 
I  have  too  long  acted  with  a  minority  to  experience 
any  uneasiness  in  my  position.  I  shall  remain  there 
until  the  ever-shifting  tide  of  human  affairs  sweeps 
numbers  to  my  side.  I  should  be  unworthy  to  sit 
here  as  the  representative  of  an  enlightened  and  mag- 
nanimous people  if  I  could  permit  myself  to  be  moved 
by  any  array  of  hostile  numbers,  or  seduced  by  the 
hope  of  acquiring  honors. 

I  see  that  the  strictest  party  training  is  going  on. 
I  know  that  a  prescriptive  spirit  is  rising.  Every 
appeal  that  can  be  made  to  human  motives  is  urged, 
and  names,  supposed  to  be  of  bad  odor,  are  freely  be- 
stowed upon  those  who  have  the  firmness  to  oppose 
the  administration.  Sir,  names  can  never  affect  prin- 
ciples or  change  positions.  Ingenuity  may  coin  them, 
and  effrontery  apply  them,  but  the  actual  relations 
of  life  remain  the  same.  I  am  what  I  have  ever 
been.  In  very  early  life  I  imbibed  a  deep  attach- 
ment for  free  principles,  from  the  very  nature  of  my 
studies.  It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  read  the 
history  of  the  contests  for  popular  liberty  which  have 
shaken  the  world — to  see  the  great  standard  some- 
times rising,  and  again  sinking  under  the  blows  of 
power — without  becoming  deeply  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  mankind.  The  feeling  thus  inspired  has  grown 
with  my  growth,  and  strengthened  with  my  strength. 
My  views  of  the  political  questions  which  concern 
our  own  country  alone  were  formed  in  a  state  which 
is  renowned  for  its  attachment  to  the  great  principles 
of  liberty,  and  whose  people  possess,  in  a  degree  un- 
surpassed in  ancient  or  modern  times,  .all  those  lofty 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  17 

qualities  which  ennoble  man.     I  mean,  sir,  the  State 
of  South  Carolina. 

It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  the  first  speech  to 
which  I  ever  listened  in  defense  of  the  State  Rights 
doctrine  was  made  by  the  distinguished  gentleman 
from  Madison.  He  was  at  that  time  a  member  of 
the  South  Carolina  Legislature.  His  fame  was  ripe ; 
his  name  was  a  tower  of  strength  ;  and  he  fully  sus- 
tained his  reputation  by  a  powerful  exhibition  of  those 
peculiar  political  principles  for  the  defense  of  which 
that  patriotic  state  has  since  become  so  distinguish- 
ed. I  was  a  boy,  leaning  from  the  gallery,  and  listen- 
ing with  eager  ear  to  the  debate.  The  impression 
then  made  on  me  has  never  passed  away;  The  gen- 
tleman alluded  to  was  sustained  on  that  occasion  by 
a  young  and  ardent  man,  rich  in  gifts  and  in  prom- 
ise, the  morning  of  whose  fame  was  darkened  by  sud- 
den and  eternal  gloom.  I  speak  of  Mr.  Nixon.  I 
shall  be  indulged  while  I  pay  a  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory. Young  and  highly  talented — surrounded  by  de- 
voted friends,  who  predicted  for  him  a  glorious  career 
— he  had  but  started,  when  he  was  called  out  to  that 
field  which  has  so  often  proved  fatal  to  genius  and 
worth.  He  fell  in  a  duel  at  Augusta.  Like  the 
young  Greek  in  a  chariot-race,  who  falls  by  the  hand 
of  an  enemy  when  springing  from  the  starting-point, 
so  fell  Nixon. 

Well,  sir,  from  that  hour  to  this  I  have  entertain- 
ed for  the  distinguished  gentleman  who  now  occupies 
a  seat  on  this  floor  the  profoundest  respect.  I  feel, 
the  most  unaffected  regret  in  being  compelled  to  dif- 
fer with  him  now.  He  is  in  the  camp  of  our  ene- 

B 


18  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

mies,  but  I  can  not  forget  his  past  services.  He  will 
pardon  me  for  comparing  him  with  Coriolanus.  It 
is  well  known  that  this  distinguished  Roman  general, 
after  he  had  rendered  the  most  important  services  to 
his  country,  and  acquired  the  amplest  honors,  left  his 
native  city,  took  up  his  residence  among  its  ancient 
enemies  the  Yolsci,  and  even  led  them  armed  against 
it.  Indeed,  he  would  have  leveled  its  walls,  and  have 
thrown  open  its  palaces  to  be  plundered  by  the  hos- 
tile hosts  at  whose  head  he  marched,  had  not  a  moth- 
er and  a  wife  come  forth,  and  moved  his  stern  pur- 
pose by  their  tears.  We  can  make  no  such  appeal  to 
the  gentleman  who  now  marches  at  the  head  of  our 
enemies  against  a  citadel  filled  with  his  ancient  friends 
and  allies.  We  can  only  point  him  to  that  time-hon- 
ored banner  which  floats  over  us,  in  defense  of  which 
I  have  seen  his  sword  flash  in  the  thickest  and  hot- 
test of  the  fight,  while  engaged  with  us  in  repelling 
the  Yolsci,  whom  he  now  leads. 

I  hold,  sir,  to-day,  the  same  political  principles 
which  I  held  then,  and  I  can  not  be  affected  by  any 
party  name  which  may  be  applied  to  those  principles, 
nor  can  I  be  seduced  into  the  support  of  the  measure 
under  consideration  because  it  professes  to  be  Repub- 
lican. Epithets  should  be  applied  with  great  cau- 
tion. Gentlemen  quite  as  ardent  in  support  of  pe- 
culiar measures  as  the  friends  of  this  question  now 
are,  and  possessing  quite  as  much  political  informar 
tion,  have  been  known  to  abandon  their  theories 
and  change  their  opinions.  In  looking  over  some  of 
the  state  papers  connected  with  the  events  of  1810, 
I  find  an  able  argument  in  favor  of  a  National 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  19 

Bank  presented  to  Congress  in  the  shape  of  a  pe- 
tition. 

By  whom,  sir,  would  you  suppose  that  this  petition 
was  written  ?  Who  enjoyed  the  honor  of  placing  his 
name  to  it  as  the  first  signer?  CONDY  RAGUET.  Will 
it  be  credited?  I  find,  too,  at  a  later  period,  Mr. 
Calhoun,  Mr.  Forsyth,  Mr.  King,  our  present  senator 
in  Congress,  and  other  distinguished  gentlemen  class- 
ed with  the  Republican  school,  voting  for  the  re-char- 
ter of  that  institution  which  has  since  become  the 
subject  of  such  deep  and  loud  denunciation.  This  is 
surely  enough  to  check  the  impetuous  zeal  of  gentle- 
jnen.  It  is  a  strong  admonition  to  forbear.  Sir,  I 
deplore  the  intolerant  spirit  which  I  every  day  see 
manifested.  Intolerance  is  hostile  to  every  thing  good 
and  great ;  it  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit 
of  freedom.  As  an  Irish  orator  said  of  bigotry,  "She 
has  no  head,  and  can  not  think ;  she  has  no  heart,  and 
can  not  feel."  The  great  business  of  intolerance  is  to 
accomplish  party  purposes  at  any  sacrifice. 

I  heard  the  argument  of  the  gentleman  from  Mad- 
isoii  with  pleasure.  I  am  always  pleased  to  listen  to 
the  history  of  my  country,  whether  the  story  relates 
to  her  battles  or  her  politics,  and  the  gentleman  has 
glanced  at  both.  It  will  not  be  expected  that  I  should 
attempt  a  regular  reply,  as  the  argument,  though  dif- 
fuse, consisting  sometimes  of  narrative  and  sometimes 
of  panegyric,  sometimes  unfolding  the  secrets  of  early 
cabinets,  and  sometimes  recounting  the  deeds  done 
upon  the  battle-field  by  the  soldier,  or  upon  the  sea 
by  the  sailor,  was  aimed  chiefly  at  a  National  Bank. 
Upon  that  subject  I  have  but  little  to  say. 


20  THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM. 

The  first  resolution  presented  by  the  gentleman 
proposes  to  instruct  our  senators  and  request  our 
representatives  in  Congress  to  vote  against  the  re- 
charter  of  the  United  States  Bank,  or  any  similar  in- 
stitution. 

The  responsibility  of  the  representative  to  his  con- 
stituents has  been  recognized  in  every  republican  gov- 
ernment. It  grows  out  of  fheir  relations,  and  must 
ever  exist.  Yet  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  rights  and 
duties  which  belong  to  the  connection  are  often  mis- 
understood or  abused — that  the  representative  be- 
comes insensible  to  the  influence  of  lofty  and  noble 
considerations,  and  sacrifices  his  deliberate  judgment 
to  the  servile  fear  of  giving  offense.  This  subject  is 
strongly  presented  by  Edmund  Burke,  whose  great, 
enlightened,  and  philosophical  mind  comprehended 
every  subject  which  it  surveyed,  while  his  resplend- 
ent and  varied  eloquence  illustrated  and  adorned  it. 
In  his  address  to  the  electors  of  Bristol,  he  says,  "It 
is  the  duty  of  the  representative  to  sacrifice  his  re- 
pose, his  pleasures,  his  satisfactions  to  his  constitu- 
ents. But  his  unbiased  opinion,  his  mature  judg- 
ment, his  enlightened  conscience,  he  ought  not  to  sac- 
rifice to  you,  to  any  man,  or  *to  any  set  of  men  living. 
They  are  a  trust  from  Providence,  for  the  abuse  of 
which  he  is  deeply  answerable.  Your  representative 
owes  you,  not  his  industry  only,  but  his  judgment, 
and  he  betrays,  instead  of  serving  you,  if  he  sacrifice 
it  to  your  opinion. " 

He  adds  again,  "  If  government  were  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  will  upon  any  side,  yours,  without  question, 
ought  to  be  superior.  But  government  and  legisla- 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  21 

tion  are  matters  of  reason  and  judgment,  not  of  in- 
clination. And  what  sort  of  reason  is  that  in  which 
the  determination  precedes  the  discussion  ;  in  which 
one  set  of  men  deliberate  and  another  decide ;  and 
when  those  who  form  the  conclusion  are  perhaps 
three  hundred  miles  distant  from  those  who  hear  the 
arguments  ?" 

These  are  just  and  noble  views,  and  it  will  at  once 
occur  to  you  what  is  the  true  relation  of  the  repre- 
sentative to  his  constituents.  He  is  bound  by  the 
highest  moral  obligations  to  respect  their  wishes  and 
to  obey  their  will  when  their  sober  and  matured  judg- 
ment has  been  ascertained. 

It  is,  then,  upon  this  acknowledged  responsibility 
of  the  representative  that  the  doctrine  of  instruction 
rests,  and  we  are  called  upon  now  to  exercise  this 
right. 

Sir,  I  will  not  question  the  right  of  the  Legislature 
to  instruct  their  senators  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  the  Virginia  doctrine,  and  has 
received  the  sanction  of  the  great  body  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  though  never  recognized,  I  think,  in 
South  Carolina.  It  must,  however,  occur  to  any  one 
who  has  bestowed  attention  on  the  subject,  that  the 
connection  between  the  representative  and  constituent 
is,  in  this  instance,  a  peculiar  one,  and  must  be  con- 
trolled by  considerations  which  do  not  apply  to  that 
relation  generally.  It  is  a  right  which  the  Legisla- 
ture should  rarely  exercise,  and  the  occasion  which 
demands  it  ought  to  be  extraordinary.  I  doubt  if 
such  occasions  occur  once  in  twenty  years.  The  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States  is  organized  upon  a  plan 


22  THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM. 

calculated  to  give  it  stability  and  independence.  That 
body,  it  was  supposed,  would  be  composed  of  men 
possessing  intellectual  and  moral  qualities  of  the  high- 
est order ;  and  it  was  the  aim  of  the  Constitution  to 
insure  in  that  branch  of  the  government  a  fixed  and 
steady  policy,  to  protect  the  exercise  of  an  enlighten- 
ed and  independent  judgment,  and  to  encourage  the 
influence  of  lofty  and  expanded  considerations.  One 
third  of  that  body  is  chosen  every  second  year,  so  that 
much  the  larger  portion  consists  of  those  who  are 
familiar  with  its  business,  and  interested  in  its  pol- 
icy. It  will  be  remembered,  too,  that  while  repre- 
sentatives are  chosen  for  only  two  years,  senators  are 
elected  for  six.  Sir,  there  must  have  been  some  de- 
sign in  this.  The  one  body  is  intended  to  act  as  a 
check  upon  the  other.  In  the  representative  branch 
of  the  national  Legislature,  every  popular  feeling, 
opinion,  and  even  prejudice  is  expected  to  be  felt  and 
exhibited ;  coming  from  the  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple, directly  responsible  to  them,  and  holding  office 
for  so  brief  a  season,  they  are  supposed  to  feel  sensi- 
tively, and  to  reflect  most  faithfully,  every  fluctuation 
in  public  sentiment.  But  the  waves  of  popular  com- 
motion, which  will  sometimes,  in  the  purest  republics, 
and  among  the  most  generous  people,  rise  too  sudden- 
ly and  mount  too  high,  are  expected  to  dash  and 
break  at  the  feet  of  a  calm  and  unmoved  Senate.  I 
am  supported  in  this  opinion  by  the  highest  author- 
ity. I  have  before  me  the  " Federalist11 — universally 
acknowledged  to  be  an  able  and  faithful  commentary 
on  the  Constitution.  It  is  well  known  that  its  de- 
sign was  to  exhibit  the  true  meaning  of  the  several 


THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  23 

provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  urge  its  claims 
upon  the  people,  while  the  question  of  its  adoption 
was  pending.  Of  its  authors  it  is  necessary  to  say 
nothing ;  it  is  enough  to  name  them — Mr.  Jay,  Mr. 
Hamilton,  and  Mr.  Madison.  I  will  take  the  liberty 
of  reading  to  the  House  a  few  words  in  relation  to 
this  particular  subject : 

"  The  necessity  of  a  Senate  is  not  less  indicated  by 
the  propensity  of  all  single  and  numerous  assemblies 
to  yield  to  the  impulse  of  sudden  and  violent  pas- 
sions, and  to  be  seduced  by  factious  leaders  into  in- 
temperate and  pernicious  resolutions.  Examples  on 
this  subject  might  be  cited  without  number,  and  from 
proceedings  within  the  United  States  as  well  as  from 
the  history  of  other  nations.  But  a  position  that 
will  not  be  contradicted  need  not  be  proved.  All 
that  need  be  remarked  is,  that  a  body  which  is  to 
correct  this  infirmity  ought  itself  to  be  free  from  it, 
and  consequently  ought  to  be  less  numerous.  It 
ought,  moreover,  to  possess  great  firmness,  and  con- 
sequently ought  to  hold  its  authority  by  a  tenure  of 
considerable  duration. 

uThe  mutability  in  the  public  councils,  arising 
from  a  rapid  succession  of  new  members,  however 
qualified  they  may  be,  points  out,  in  the  strongest 
manner,  the  necessity  of  some  stable  institution  in 
the  government.  Every  new  election  in  the  states 
is  found  to  change  one  half  of  the  representatives. 
From  the  change  of  men  must  proceed  a  change  of 
opinions,  and  from  a  change  of  opinions  a  change 
of  measures.  But  a  continual  change  even  of  good 
measures  is  inconsistent  with  every  rule  of  prudence 


24  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

and  every  prospect  of  success.  The  remark  is  veri- 
fied in  private  life,  and  becomes  more  just,  as  well  as 
more  important,  in  national  transactions." 

But,  sir,  this  view  is  presented  still  more  strongly 
in  a  succeeding  number : 

"Thus  far  I  have  considered  the  circumstances 
which  point  out  the  necessity  of  a  well-constructed 
Senate  only  as  they  relate  to  the  representatives  of 
the  people.  To  a  people  as  little  blinded  by  preju- 
dice or  corrupted  by  flattery  as  those  whom  I  address, 
I  shall  not  scruple  to  add  that  such  an  institution 
may  be  sometimes  necessary  as  a  defense  to  the  peo- 
ple against  their  own  temporary  errors  and  delusions. 
As  the  cool  and  deliberate  sense  of  the  community 
ought  in  all  governments,  and  actually  will  in  all  free 
governments,  ultimately  to  prevail  over  the  views 
tof  its  rulers,  so  there  are  particular  moments  in  pub- 
lic affairs  when  the  people,  stimulated  by  some  irreg- 
ular passion  or  some  illicit  advantage,  or  misled  by 
the  artful  misrepresentations  of  interested  men,  may 
call  for  measures  which  they  themselves  will  be  most 
ready  to  lament  and  condemn.  In  these  critical  mo- 
ments, how  salutary  will  be  the  interference  of  some 
temperate  and  respectable  body  of  citizens,  in  order 
to  check  the  misguided  career,  and  to  suspend  the 
blow  meditated  by  the  people  against  themselves,  un- 
til reason,  justice,  and  truth  can  regain  their  author- 
ity over  the  public  mind !  What  bitter  anguish  would 
not  the  people  of  Athens  have  often  avoided  if  their 
government  had  contained  so  provident  a  safeguard 
against  the  tyranny  of  their  own  passions?  Popular 
liberty  might  then  have  escaped  the  indelible  reproach 


THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  25 

of  decreeing  to  the  same  citizens  the  hemlock  on  one 
day,  and  statues  on  the  next.11 

Surely,  sir,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  great  object 
sought  in  organizing  the  Senate  was  to  render  it  sta- 
ble and  independent.  It  was  expected  that  the  im- 
mediate representatives  of  the  people  would  yield  to 
any  commotion,  but  it  was  intended  that  senators 
should  stand  firm  until  the  storm  had  passed  away, 
and  the  heavens  were  clear,  and  the  form  of  Truth 
visible  to  all  eyes.  But,  sir,  if  you  instruct  your 
senators  in  every  instance,  upon  every  occasion,  small 
and  great,  you  had  better  at  once  repeal  that  provi- 
sion of  the  Constitution  which  secures  to  them  their 
seats  for  six  years,  and  make  them  really  dependent 
on  and  submissive  to  you  by  electing  them  but  for 
two.  You  change  the  form  of  our  government,  by 
destroying  that  very  stability  and  independence  which 
it  was  intended  should  be  found  in  the  Senate,  if  on 
all  matters  you  legislate  for  your  senators,  forward 
to  them  peremptory  instructions,  and  force  them  to 
obey  your  wishes  or  resign. 

I  hope  that  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood  in  my 
views  of  this  subject.  I  do  not  deny  the  right  to  in- 
struct ;  I  am  only  throwing  about  it  the  guards  and 
checks  which  ought  to  surround  it.  I  shall  never 
consent  to  instruct  a  senator  in  Congress  unless  the 
occasion  be  one  of  extraordinary  danger  and  import- 
ance. I  solemnly  protest  against  the  abuse  of  this 
right;  I  solemnly  protest  against  the  practice  of 
bringing  every  party  question  to  bear  upon  the  de- 
liberations of  the  United  States  Senate.  Sir,  has 
the  mature  sense  of  the  people  of  Alabama,  in  rela- 


26  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

tion  to  the  measure  now  under  consideration,  been 
ascertained  ?  Has  it  in  any  way  been  made  known  ? 
No,  sir.  And  how  will  a  magnanimous  people  re- 
gard us,  if  we  show  ourselves  so  eager  to  ubend  the 
supple  hinges  of  the  knee"  as  to  anticipate  their  ac- 
tion, and  pledge  them  to  the  support  of  a  measure 
which  they  have  never  yet  sanctioned,  and  which  I 
trust  they  never  will  sanction  ?  Gentlemen  mistake 
the  people  of  this  country  if  they  hope  to  excite  their 
admiration  or  secure  their  confidence  by  displaying 
such  inglorious  zeal  in  approving  every  scheme  pro- 
posed by  those  in  power.  I  am  not  prepared  to 
make  known  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  our  state 
upon  this  subject.  The  great  body  of  them  have  nev- 
er entertained  it ;  and  if,  in  some  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, the  measure  has  found  favor,  public  opinion  there 
can  be  revolutionized  by  bringing  the  system  upon 
the  open  field  of  free  and  bold  discussion.  I  shall 
not,  sir,  approach  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
with  the  small  clamor  of  a  few  party  leaders,  and  en- 
deavor to  persuade  that  body  that  it  is  the  voice  of  a 
state  which  they  hear.  No,  sir;  first  let  the  state 
speak.  Is  there  the  slightest  danger  that  our  sena- 
tors will  vote  for  a  re-charter  of  the  United  States 
Bank?  There  is  no  such  proposition  before  Con- 
gress, and  it  is  well  known  that  body  will  presently 
adjourn.  Where,  then,  is  the  necessity  for  any  in- 
struction on  the  subject?  Why  must  these  resolu- 
tions be  pressed  through  with  such  hot  haste,  and  for- 
warded to  Washington  City  ?  Because  gentlemen  en- 
tertain the  apprehension  that  our  senators,  whose 
sentiments  are  well  known,  and  whose  partisan  fidel- 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  27 

ity  no  one  doubts,  may  be  seduced  into  the  support 
of  a  proposition,  not  yet  made,  to  re-charter  a  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  And  are  we  called  on,  for  this, 
to  exercise  the  solemn  right  of  instruction  ?  No,  sir ; 
there  is  another  object.  This  hue  and  cry  about  a 
National  Bank  is  intended  for  effect.  It  is  the  beat 
of  the  reveille,  rousing  partisans  from  their  slumbers 
when  no  enemy  is  in  the  field.  It  is  the  standard 
dipped  in  blood  and  flame,  that  it  may  dart  through 
the  country  and  assemble  the  clansmen — that  it  may 
call  up  the  faithful  from  the  mountain  fastnesses  of 
the  North — from  the  level  plains  of  the  South,  and 
from  the  broad  but  distant  sea-board.  A  party  gath- 
ering is  desired ;  gentlemen  who  do  not  like  the  sub-, 
treasury  scheme  are  to  be  prevented  from  scrutinizing 
its  odious  features  by  the  cry,  which  is  ever  thunder- 
ed in  their  ears,  of  UA  NATIONAL  BANK!" 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  plan  is  on  foot  to  estab- 
lish a  National  Bank ;  the  country  is  not  asking  for 
it,  and  the  subject  would  sleep  if  it  were  not  for  the 
rising  zeal  of  those  who  profess  still  to  dread  its  pow- 
er, and  who  seem  to  regard  it  as  a  monster  over  which 
a  spell  has  been  thrown  by  an  incantation,  through 
whose  force  it  may  yet  break,  and  rouse  itself  like  a 
giant  refreshed  with  wine.  These  are  the  men  who 
keep  the  question  alive,  and  who  find  it  very  effect- 
ive in  their  system  of  party  training. 

I  heard  with  pleasure  the  eloquent  tribute  paid  by 
the  gentleman  from  Madison  to  General  Jackson  as 
a  soldier.  He  certainly  deserves  great  praise ;  and 
whether  we  contemplate  him  pursuing  the  Indians 
through  the  wilderness,  driving  them  to  the  cover  of 


28  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

their  gloomy  swamps,  braving  the  deadly  rifle  and 
the  glittering  tomahawk,  or  planting  himself  in  front 
of  a  numerous,  civilized,  and  disciplined  army,  accus- 
tomed to  war,  and  fresh  from  lately-won  fields,  he  ex- 
cites our  admiration  and  our  gratitude.  Let  him  be 
crowned  with  the  honors  which  he  has  earned.  Tran- 
quil may  his  old  age  be ! 

But  I  do  believe  that  he  was  led  into  very  errone- 
ous and  dangerous  views  of  the  relations  of  the  states 
to  each  other,  and  to  the  general  government. 

I  confess  myself,  too,  unable  to  comprehend  the 
precise  connection  between  General  Jackson's  mili- 
tary services  and  the  question  of  a  re-charter  of  the 
United  States  Bank.  The  gentleman  from  Madison 
has  interwoven  them,  and  has  painted  at  one  moment 
his  favorite  hero  encamped  in  the  woods,  subsisting 
on  acorns  and  parched  corn,  and,  at  another,  has 
sketched  the  dangers  which  belong  to  that  institution 
which  still  disturbs  his  repose,  and  presents  visions 
to  his  fancy  as  startling  and  appalling  as  those  which 
shook  Lochiel  upon  the  eve  of  battle.  He  will  par- 
don me  if  I  do  not  feel  the  force  of  his  reasoning. 

Other  distinguished  gentlemen,  who  have  fallen  in 
with  the  present  scheme  of  the  administration,  were 
once  friendly  to  a  National  Bank.  I  do  not  doubt 
but  that  with  many  the  change  of  opinion  has  been 
very  sincere. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  Mr.  Calhoun's  well-known 
sentiments,  and  the  name  of  one  of  our  present  sena- 
tors in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  a  gentle- 
man of  great  worth,  might  be  added. 

A  gentleman  now  high  in  office  in  this  state,  when 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  29 

but  a  few  years  since  a  member  of  this  House,  was 
not  satisfied  with  voting  against  a  resolution  con- 
demning the  United  States  Bank,  but  spread  his  pro- 
test on  the  journal,  and  recorded  his  opinion  in  favor 
of  the  absolute  necessity  for  such  an  institution. 

But,  sir,  the  aspect  of  this  question  has  wholly 
changed,  and  the  condition  of  the  country  is  widely 
different  from  what  it  was  a  few  years  since.  Then 
the  bank  was  in  successful  operation,  and  was  regard- 
ed by  many  most  able  and  distinguished  men  as  ab- 
solutely essential  to  the  country.  So  thought  Mr. 
M  'Dunie,  a  sound  constitutional  lawyer,  and  a  states- 
man of  extraordinary  ability.  A  committee,  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  visited  Philadelphia  in  1832,  clothed 
with  full  power  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  bank. 
Mr.  M'Duffie  and  some  others,  dissenting  from  the 
report  of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  submitted  a 
counter  report  urging  its  re-charter. 

The  popularity  of  the  bank,  and  the  sense  of  its 
importance,  was  even  increased  by  the  removal  of  the 
deposits  and  the  events  which  succeeded. 

But,  sir,  the  aspect  of  the  question  is  now  changed, 
as  I  before  remarked.  The  country  is  rapidly  accom- 
modating itself  to  its  circumstances.  There  has  been 
a  vast  concentration  of  capital  in  New  York.  In 
Philadelphia,  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  oper- 
ating extensively.  Mr.  Biddle  himself  would  no 
doubt  resist  the  attempt  to  create  a  National  Bank. 
Let  us  now  make  suitable  arrangements  for  an  ample 
and  sound  circulation  in  the  South,  and  the  country 
is  independent  of  such  an  institution. 

The  gentleman  from  Madison  remarked  severely  on 


30  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

Mr.  Biddle's  entering  the  cotton-market.  This  is  the 
very  last  objection  which  I  should  make  to  him.  It 
increases  the  demand  for  our  staple  commodity,  and 
he  can  control  it  but  in  one  way — by  bidding  more 
for  it  than  any  other  purchaser.  I  am  sorry  to  learn 
that  his  operations  in  this  way  are  to  be  less  extens- 
ive in  future. 

But,  sir,  I  will  dwell  no  longer  on  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  The  instructions  proposed  to  be  giv- 
en to  our  senators  respecting  it  are  uncalled  for ;  it 
is  a  mere  party  maneuver,  gotten  up  for  selfish  pur- 
poses, and  I  shall  not  in  any  way  lend  it  my  aid. 

We  are  called  on  too,  sir,  to  support  that  system 
which  proposes  to  collect  the  public  dues  in  gold  and 
silver.  I  can  not  aid  in  fixing  such  a  system  upon 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  I  have  already  ex- 
pressed my  deliberate  opinion  upon  the  subject  in  the 
resolutions  which  I  had  the  honor  to  propose  for  the 
adoption  of  the  Legislature,  one  of  which  declares 
that  Congress  ought  to  pass  no  law  prohibiting  the 
reception  of  the  notes  of  specie-paying  banks  in  dis- 
charge of  the  public  dues. 

There  is  no  necessary  connection  between  specie 
and  property.  The  precious  metals  were  very  early 
selected  to  represent  things  really  valuable,  because 
of  their  scarcity,  their  durability,  their  uniformity  of 
value,  and  other  qualities  which  render  them  a  con- 
venient agent  in  commercial  transactions.  But,  sir, 
will  it  be  denied  that,  when  society  advances,  when 
'the  wants  of  men  become  more  numerous,  and  their 
transactions  more  complex,  they  are  at  liberty  to  sub- 
stitute some  more  convenient  representative  of  prop- 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  31 

erty  ?  Surely  not  It  would  be  most  absurd  to  at- 
tempt to  restrict  them  to  the  use  of  the  precious  met- 
als. I  beg  leave  to  borrow  the  opinion  of  a  distin- 
guished gentleman  in  South  Carolina — Mr.  Petigru. 
In  a  speech  of  great  force  which  he  delivered  upon  this 
subject  in  the  Legislature  of  that  state,  he  remarked: 

"When  we  speak  of  a  measure  or  standard,  we  re- 
fer to  fixed  and  definite  proportions,  which  are  equal- 
ly certain  and  unchangeable ;  but  when  we  speak  of 
the  precious  metals  as  a  measure  or  standard  of  val- 
ue, we  use  the  terms  in  a  vague  sense,  as  expressive 
of  the  use  of  the  precious  metals,  but  not  of  any  qual- 
ity that  is  inherent  in  them." 

This  is  a  doctrine  perfectly  well  understood  by  ev- 
ery commercial  nation  on  the  globe,  and,  sir,  it  is  a 
most  useless  enterprise  to  undertake  to  persuade  the 
people  of  this  country  to  abandon  it. 

Nor,  sir,  will  you  be  more  successful  in  persuading 
them  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  intended  to  prohibit  the  employment 
of  some  other  than  a  metallic  circulation.  They 
were  too  enlarged  in  their  views,  too  comprehensive 
in  their  mode  of  thinking,  to  attempt  to  fasten  a  spe- 
cie currency  upon  this  country.  I  am  unable  to  con- 
ceive how  gentlemen  reach  the  conclusion  that  the 
reception  of  bank  bills  in  discharge  of  public  dues 
"is  a  plain  and  palpable  violation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion." It  was  not  intended  that  any  thing  but  gold 
and  silver  should  be  made  a  legal  tender  in  payment 
of  debts.  The  power  is  expressly  denied  to  the 
STATES,  and  the  general  government  has  no  control 
over  individual  contracts.  But  it  is  any  thing  else 


32  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

than  a  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution  to  in- 
fer from  this  that  it  intended  to  forbid  the  use  of  all 
money  except  that  supplied  by  the  precious  metals. 
If  it  had  intended  this,  it  was  very  easy  so  to  have 
declared  it  in  express  terms. 

The  Constitution  has  provided  a  standard  of  value, 
to  remain  unchanged,  and  to  which  every  other  rep- 
resentative of  property  may  be  reduced  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  creditor.  But  it  has  gone  no  farther ;  it 
leaves  the  government  and  individuals  at  liberty  to 
employ  any  circulation  which  their  wants  may  de- 
mand, and  to  receive  whatever  they  may  choose  to 
select  in  discharge  of  claims  which  they  hold. 

It  is  most  strange  that  at  this  day  a  different  con- 
struction should  be  put  on  the  Constitution,  and  that 
an  effort  should  be  made  to  break  down  the  banking 
system.  Let  us  recur  to  Mr.  Calhoun's  views  of  the 
powers  of  Congress  over  the  currency  in  1816. 

In  his  speech  on  the  Bank  Bill  at  that  time  before 
Congress,  he  says,  uThe  only  object  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  could  have  had  in  view  in  giving  to 
Congress  the  power  to  coin  money,  regulate  the  value 
thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin,  must  have  been  to  give 
a  steadiness  and  fixed  value  to  the  currency  of  the 
United  States."  He  is  said  by  a  distinguished  states- 
man to  have  insisted  that  the  state  of  things  existing 
at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  af- 
forded an  argument  in  support  of  his  construction. 
Mr.  C.  remarked  farther:  "For  gold  and  silver  coin 
are  not  the  only  money,  but  whatever  is  the  medium 
of  purchase  and  sale ;  in  which  bank-paper  alone  was 
how  employed." 


THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  33 

Sir,  this  is  undeniably  true  at  this  time;  and,  if 
so,  what  apology  can  the  government  offer  to  the  peo- 
ple for  rejecting  bank  paper  ?  If  it  be  money  for  the 
people — if  the  circumstances  of  the  country  have  call- 
ed it  into  being,  and  have  given  to  it  its  present  cir- 
culation, by  what  reason  can  it  be  shown  that  the 
servants  of  the  people  ought  not  to  receive  it  ?  Con- 
gress, most  certainly,  ought  not  to  pass  any  law  pro- 
hibiting the  reception  of  paper  convertible  into  spe- 
cie, in  payment  of  dues  to  the  government.  Such  a 
measure  would  neither  be  in  harmony  with  the  spir- 
it of  our  institutions,  nor  friendly  to  the  interests  of 
our  people.  It  would  resemble  more  the  edicts  of  the 
tyrant,  who  invented  means  for  making  the  people 
feel  the  iron  pressure  of  his  power,  and  who  sought, 
by  destroying  their  prosperity,  to  break  thej.r  spirit. 
Where  is  the  necessity  for  such  a  measure?  From 
whom  do  you  demand  gold  and  silver?  From  the 
PEOPLE.  To  pay  whom  ?  OFFICERS — the  very  serv- 
ants of  the  people.  But,  sir,  the  servitude  is  in  the 
name  only ;  in  all  else  they  are  princely.  In  the  or- 
dinary intercourse  between  man  and  man,  paper  will 
answer  as  a  medium  of  exchange ;  but  when  a  sleek 
and  salaried  officer  is  to  be  paid,  the  man  who  earns 
his  daily  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  and  the  la- 
bor of  his  hands  must  search  for  glittering  coin,  and 
must  buy  it,  whatever  inconvenience  or  expense  it 
may  cost  to  obtain  it.  Sir,  a  plain  man,  engaged  in 
his  daily  avocations,  and  called  on  for  a  tribute  of 
this  kind  by  a  courtly  government  collector,  would  be 
affected  by  it  very  much  as  Hotspur  was  by  the  de- 
mand for  his  prisoners. 

C 


34  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

Sir,  this  scheme  will  never  do ;  it  is  unsuited  to 
the  latitude  of  the  United  States.  I  solemnly  pro- 
test against  the  measure  in  the  name  of  the  people. 
I  protest  against  it  in  the  name  of  those  whose  in- 
terests gentlemen  profess  such  an  anxiety  to  guard. 
I  shall  to  the  last  resist  a  measure  which  proposes  to 
fasten  upon  them  an  odious  and  heavy  tax,  and  to 
bind  upon  their  necks  a  yoke  not  the  less  galling  be- 
cause it  is  made  of  gold  or  of  silver,  and  not  of  iron. 
But  it  is  contended  that,  by  creating  a  strong  demand 
for  the  precious  metals,  and  excluding  paper,  the  coun- 
try will  enjoy  an  abundant  supply  of  gold  and  silver. 
This  view  is  urged  upon  us  by  those  who  regard  the 
absence  of  a  large  supply  of  gold  and  silver  coin  as  a 
great  evil,  but  the  opinion  is  a  mistaken  one.  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's  opinion  on  this  subject  is  entitled  to  weight, 
and  he  says>  "With  the  greatest  abundance  of  provis- 
ions, it  is  impossible  for  a  new  country  to  purchase 
what  it  does  not  produce  unless  it  has  a  market  for 
its  own  products.  Specie  is  a  foreign  product,  and, 
though  one  of  the  most  necessary,  is  not  yet  always 
that  which  is  most  imperatively  required.  We  may 
aver  from  our  own  knowledge  that  the  western  coun- 
ties of  Pennsylvania  had  not,  during  more  than  twenty 
years  after  their  first  settlement,  the  specie  necessary 
for  their  own  internal  trade  and  usual  transactions." 

It  by  no  means  follows  that  the  banishment  of 
bank  paper  will  insure  the  presence  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver. You  may,  like  the  western  counties  of  Penn- 
sylvania, have  neither  paper  nor  coin.  Sound  bank 
paper  will  not  expel  coin. 

But,  sir,  if  we  should  admit  all  that  the  advocates 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  35 

of  a  hard-money  currency  contend  for — if,  by  dishon- 
oring bank  paper,  the  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  in 
the  country  would  be  increased,  this  would  not  pro- 
duce a  corresponding  increase  in  its  wealth.  The 
country  might  be  flooded  with  the  precious  metals, 
and  yet  be  poor.  They  are  unproductive  in  them- 
selves; they  are  not  wealth,  but  only  a  means  of 
wealth. 

This  opinion  corresponds  with  those  long  before 
expressed  by  Dr.  Franklin. 

It  is  a  gross  though  common  error  to  mistake  the 
signs  of  wealth  for  wealth  itself.  Indeed,  the  great 
objection  to  the  measures  of  the  present  administra- 
tion is,  that  they  are  too  narrow  in  their  scope ;  they 
leave  out  of  view  the  great  moral  causes  which  ought 
to  rank  first  in  a  country's  resources ;  it  has  begun  a 
retrograde  march  in  civilization,  and  is  striving  to 
introduce  into  this  young,  wide,  and  rapidly-growing 
nation  systems  long  since  rejected  by  every  people 
who  have  grown  great  and  important.  It  is  devis- 
ing means  to  curb  the  spirit  of  enterprise  in  the 
American  people,  and  to  reduce  us  to  the  cold  and 
barren  condition  of  semi-barbarian  nations.  Com- 
pare France  with  Great  Britain.  France  is  said  to 
possess  about  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  of  spe- 
cie. Now,  sir,  travel  through  France:  you  may  ad- 
mire her  vine-covered  hills ;  you  may  be  pleased  with 
the  characteristic  politeness  of  her  people ;  but  what 
great  works  meet  your  eye?  Where  will  you  find  a 
magnificent  system  of  improvements  to  delight  you, 
and  to  remind  you  of  the  century  in  which  you  live? 
You  shall  find  nothing  of  all  this.  But  pass  into 


36  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

Great  Britain,  and  you  seem  to  have  strode  into  an- 
other century — you  almost  realize  some  of  the  dreams 
of  Aladdin.  Look  at  her  shipping — look  at  her  man- 
ufactories— look  at  the  moral  grandeur  of  the  nation. 

There  exists  at  this  moment  a  strong  demand  for 
more  bank  paper  in  our  own  state.  In  support  of 
this,  I  appeal  to  the  gentleman  from  Marengo,  who, 
though  devoted  to  the  administration,  and  a  warm 
advocate  of  its  schemes,  a  few  days  since  introduced 
to  this  House  a  petition  for  the  charter  of  a  bank  in 
his  neighborhood,  which  has  commenced  its  issues 
without,  I  think,  a  dollar  of  specie ;  and  so  numer- 
ous were  the  petitioners,  that,  as  the  messenger  bore 
it  to  your  table,  it  hung  like  a  mantle  about  him. 
The  direct  tendency  of  the  sub-treasury  scheme  is  to 
break  down  the  banking  system  of  this  country.  By 
rejecting  bank  paper,  and  by  requiring  all  public  dues 
to  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver,  a  strong  and  steady 
demand  is  created  for  coin.  When  it  is  once  under- 
stood that  specie  will  answer  certain  valuable  pur- 
poses which  bank  paper  will  not,  gold  and  silver  will 
become  an  article  of  trade;  they  will  be  regularly 
bought  and  sold  at  their  market  value. 

The  demand  can  be  supplied  only  by  purchasing 
the  article  from  individuals  who  speculate  in  funds, 
or  by  presenting  bills  at  the  counters  of  the  banks 
which  issued  them,  and  demanding  specie. 

It  is  idle  to  hope  that  the  banking  system  can  be 
sustained  under  the  operation  of  such  a  measure ;  its 
prostration  would  be  inevitable.  The  government 
would  maintain  an  attitude  of  direct  hostility  to  the 
banks;  it  would  put  dishonor  upon  their  bills  byre- 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  37 

jecting  them ;  and  would,  by  its  example,  encourage 
individuals  to  pursue  the  same  narrow,  selfish,  and 
destructive  policy. 

Credit  is  sensitive;  confidence  is  essential  to  it; 
and  if  it  is  withheld  by  the  government,  it  can  not 
exist.  I  do  not  deny  that  there  may  be  evils  con- 
nected with  the  banking  system  as  it  is  at  present 
conducted.  It  may  be  abused.  If  so,  amend  it ;  take 
hold  of  it,  and  improve  its  structure,  but  do  not  con- 
sent to  destroy  it.  Do  not  lend  your  aid  to  the  sup- 
port of  a  scheme  which,  while  it  promises  to  deprive 
the  banks  of  their  power  to  do  evil,  at  the  same  time 
robs  them  of  their  ability  to  do  good.  The  gentleman 
from  Madison  has  alluded  to  the  soldiers  and  the 
sailors  who  fight  our  battles  in  connection  with  these 
institutions,  and  he  paid  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the 
American  navy.  No  one,  sir,  feels  a  stronger  regard 
for  that  class  of  our  countrymen  than  I  do.  While 
Upon  the  land  our  army  did  nobly  in  the  contest 
with  a  powerful  nation,  upon  the  sea  our  navy  cov- 
ered itself  with  undying  glory,  and  made  our  na- 
tional banner,  while  it  floated  above  the  smoke  of 
battle,  an  object  of  terror  to  its  enemies,  and  of  hope 
and  pride  to  its  friends.  I  do  not  believe  that  a 
more  active,  daring,  and  enterprising  set  of  men  live 
than  our  sailors.  At  this  hour  they  are  spreading 
American  canvas  in  the  northern  seas  amid  the  ice- 
bergs ;  among  the  luxuriant  islands  of  the  tropical 
region;  upon  the  Pacific;  upon  the  Mediterranean: 
they  bear  our  produce  to  the  ports  of  the  most  en- 
lightened and  commercial  nations  on  the  globe,  and, 
touching  with  their  vessels  the  shores  of  a  people  who 


38  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

have  hitherto  rejected  all  intercourse  with  mankind, 
they  draw  them  into  a  wider  traffic,  and  tempt  them 
into  an  exchange  of  commodities.  Yet,  sir,  is  it  a 
fair  objection  to  banks  that  this  class  of  our  people 
do  not  happen  to  hold  stock  in  them?  The  reason- 
ing must  be  very  peculiar  which  conducts  one  to  such 
a  conclusion.  I  deplore  the  effort  so  steadily  made 
to  array  one  class  against  another.  The  pursuits  of 
men  are  various ;  they  are  wisely  ordered  so ;  but 
this  ought  not  to  produce  hostility  and  distrust.  In 
this  country  the  rich  man  is  no  enemy  to  the  poor. 
He  can  not  be.  This  is  a  relation  which  is  perpet- 
ually changing.  The  laborer  of  this  year  becomes 
the  moneyed  man  of  the  next.  Under  the  benefi- 
cent credit  system  which  this  country  enjoys,  he  is 
enabled  to  engage  in  any  enterprise  which  seems  to 
him  the  most  promising.  If  he  inclines  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  he  penetrates  the  wilderness ;  by  the 
aid  of  friends  he  secures  a  small  tract  of  land,  erects 
his  humble  cabin,  clears  the  forest  about  him,  and 
presently  gathers  from  the  generous  soil  its  rich  prod- 
ucts; or,  if  he  should  prefer  the  busy  occupation  of 
trade,  he  engages  in  this,  cautiously  at  first,  but  as 
his  means  increase  he  widens  the  sweep  of  his  opera- 
tions, and  enjoys  an  ample  return  for  his  skill  and 
industry;  or  it  may  be  that  he  loves  the  sea;  if  so, 
he  takes  his  place  among  daring  and  hardy  associates, 
and,  braving  cold  and  danger  in  the  pursuit,  he  strikes 
the  harpoon  into  the  whale,  and  returns  laden  with 
the  spoil.  Who,  sir,  does  not  know  that  this  is  so- 
ber truth,  and  not  a  mere  picture?  Who  desires  to 
see  this  state  of  things  changed? 


THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  39 

Those  very  men  who  are  represented  as  sustaining 
such  serious  injury  from  bank  monopolies,  are  aided 
in  beginning  their  adventures  by  these  institutions, 
and,  after  accumulating  wealth,  invest  their  profits 
in  them.     I  hope,  sir,  that  jealousies  will  never  grow 
up  between  different  classes  in  this  country;    they 
would  be  far  more  dangerous  than  those  which  are 
founded  in  geographical  relations.     Yet  it  is  gravely 
asserted  that  there  ought  not  to  be  a  geographical 
division  of  parties,  but  that  the  true  and  natural 
ground  of  party  organization  is  to  array  the  produc- 
ing class,  as  it  is  termed,  against  the  wealthy  class. 
Those  who  favor  such  a  distinction  have  looked  into 
the  history  of  the  world  to  but  little  purpose.     If  it 
were  introduced  here,  the  contest  between  plebeians 
and  patricians  would  be  renewed ;  contests  which  oft- 
en shook  the  power  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  threat- 
ened it  with  greater  danger  than  any  external  force. 
The  operation  of  the  sub-treasury  scheme  would 
reduce  the  country  to  a  very  restricted  circulation, 
and  would  cripple  the  enterprise  of  our  people.     The 
want  of  an  ample  circulation  is  acknowledged  to  be, 
in  any  country,  a  great  evil,  but  in  the  United  States 
it  would  be  an  evil  of  no  common  magnitude.     It 
would  at  once  check  our  advancement  in  the  scale  of 
national  importance.     I  will  read  a  single  passage 
from  a  speech  delivered  in  Congress  by  one  of  its 
ablest  members,  Mr.  Legare,  of  South  Carolina.     He 
mentions  the  fact  that  within  a  comparatively  brief 
period  some  of  the  most  fertile  and  beautiful  tracts 
of  the  Roman  territory  had  been  depopulated ;  and 
he  remarks : 


40  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

"Nor,  sir,  was  this  owing  to  the  despotism  of  the 
Caesars,  as  an  excellent  writer  has  well  observed  in 
reference  to  this  passage  of  the  'Decline  and  Fall,' 
and  as  this  committee  will  do  well  to  remark.  There 
co-operated  with  that  misgovernment  a  curse,  which 
has  been  said,  and  is  thus  proved,  to  be  worse  than 
4  the  inclemency  of  the  seasons  and  the  barrenness  of 
the  earth,'  a  decreasing  currency.  The  supply  of  the 
precious  metals  had  been  for  upward  of  two  centuries 
continually  diminishing,  while  the  quantity  of  them 
sent  in  quest  of  luxuries  to  the  East,  to  return  no 
more,  had  been  increasing  in  the  same  proportion, 
and  a  revenue  of  15  or  £20,000,000  was  constantly 
levied  in  gold  and  silver,  to  be  expended  at  a  distant 
capital  or  on  the  frontiers. 

u  This  important  fact  speaks  volumes  to  us  on  this 
subject.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  one  of  the 
greatest  calamities  of  the  declining  empire  was  a  cir- 
culation diminishing  so  frightfully,  that  the  pay  of  a 
general  in  the  third  century  was  nominally  no  high- 
er than  that  of  a  private  had  been  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus.  So  much  for  the  Homan  sub-treasury 
system." 

Can  it  be  doubted  that  the  same  result  would  fol- 
low the  introduction  of  it  here  ? 

It  is  contended  that  the  value  of  paper  money  is 
too  unsettled  and  fluctuating ;  and  a  specie  circula- 
tion is  desired,  because  of  its  stable  and  uniform  val- 
ue. It  can  not  be  denied  that  uniformity  of  value 
is  .a  very  important  quality  in  a  medium  of  exchange, 
yet  it  is  by  no  means  the  only  one  which  we  desire. 
It  is  impossible  to  select  any  representative  of 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  41 

property  which  shall  possess  a  perfectly  uniform 
value. 

While  we  admit  that  the  precious  metals  possess 
a  more  uniform  value  than  any  other  currency,  yet 
it  can  not  be  denied  that  bank  paper,  at  all  times 
convertible  into  gold  and  silver,  is  sufficiently  stable 
for  all  the  purposes  of  trade.  Banks  supply,  too,  a 
circulation  which  possesses  other  very  important  qual- 
ities ;  and  among  them,  abundance.  An  abundant 
circulation  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  prosperity 
of  this  nation  ;  without  it,  the  laboring  classes  toil  in 
vain ;  they  never  rise  above  the  condition  of  their 
birth ;  the  son  inherits  poverty  from  his  father,  and 
in  turn  transmits  it  to  his  children.  Public  improve- 
ments can  not  advance ;  capitalists  will  not  aid  them ; 
they  employ  their  funds  in  more  profitable  and  more 
selfish  enterprises.  The  very  tendency  of  a  restricted 
circulation  is  to  increase  the  means  of  the  wealthy 
and  to  impoverish  the  needy. 

As  to  convenience,  no  one  will  hesitate  to  admit 
that  bank  paper  possesses  it  in  a  much  higher  degree 
than  specie.  We  are  a  commercial  people.  Our  coun- 
try is  an  extended  one.  We  are  accustomed  to  pass 
from  one  extremity  to  the  other — to  push  our  enter- 
prises, sometimes  on  the  Western  frontier,  and  again 
on  the  Southern  coast.  We  need  an  expanded  and 
convenient  currency,  which  shall  cost  neither  labor  or 
expense  in  its  transportation.  Do  not  bring  upon  us 
the  Spartan  policy;  do  not  shape  your  legislation 
upon  the  model  of  the  ancient  lawgiver,  Lycurgus. 
He  sought  to  preserve  the  virtue  of  his  people  by  re- 
straining them  from  commerce,  and  by  forbidding 


42  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

them  to  travel.  He  accomplished  his  object  by  con- 
filling  them  to  the  use  of  iron  money,  and  by  distrib- 
uting property  among  them  equally.  We  are  fast 
adopting  the  one  scheme ;  is  there  no  danger  that  the 
other  will  be  forced  upon  us?  Indulge  me  in  one 
more  reference  to  Dr.  Franklin : 

"  Paper  money,  well  funded,  has  another  great  ad- 
vantage over  gold  and  silver:  its  lightness  of  car- 
riage, and  the  little  room  that  is  occupied  by  a  great 
sum,  whereby  it  is  capable  of  being  more  easily  and 
more  safely,  because  more  privately,  conveyed  from 
place  to  place.  Gold  and  silver  are  not  intrinsically 
of  equal  value  with  iron,  a  metal  in  itself  capable  of 
many  more  beneficial  uses  to  mankind.  Their  value 
rests  chiefly  in  the  estimation  they  happen  to  be  in 
among  the  generality  of  nations,  and  the  credit  given 
to  the  opinion  that  that  estimation  will  continue, 
otherwise  a  pound  of  gold  would  not  be  a  real  equiv- 
alent even  for  a  bushel  of  wheat.  Any  other  well- 
founded  credit  is  as  much  an  equivalent  as  gold  and 
silver,  and  in  some  cases  more  so,  or  it  would  not  be 
preferred  by  commercial  people  in  different  countries. 
Not  to  mention  again  our  own  bank  bills,  Holland, 
which  understands  the  value  of  cash  as  well  as  any 
people  in  the  world,  would  never. part  with  gold  and 
silver  for  credit  (as  they  do  when  they  put  it  into 
their  bank,  from  whence  little  of  it  is  ever  afterward 
drawn  out),  if  they  did  not  think  and  find  the  credit 
a  full  equivalent." 

Sir,  such  a  currency  as  I  have  described  our  peo- 
ple will  have.  Look  abroad  at  our  growing  trade. 
See  our  spreading  commerce.  Observe  the  activity 


THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM.  43 

which  pervades  every  department  of  life,  and  say,  sir, 
do  you  think  that  the  specie  system  will  suit  this 
country?  Are  you  prepared  to  invite  the  govern- 
ment  to  begin  the  work  of  fixing  it  upon  us,  by  re- 
quiring all  its  dues  to  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver  ?  I 
trust  not.  Nor  can  I  consent  that  the  public  funds 
shall  be  intrusted  to  the  keeping  of  executive  depend- 
ents. The  financial  objections  to  the  system  are  nu- 
merous. One  of  them  is  strongly  stated  by  Mr. 
Cheves.  He  insists  that  it  is  a  most  unwise  policy 
to  collect  the  public  dues  in  gold  and  silver,  and  then 
place  the  money  in  the  hands  of  individual  agents. 
You  thus  abstract  it  from  circulation ;  it  lies  in  the 
vaults  of  sub-treasurers ;  it  answers  no  useful  pur- 
pose in  life ;  and  this  mass  of  metal  might  as  well, 
for  the  time,  be  returned  to  the  mines  from  which  it 
was  dug.  Nor  is  the  plan  a  safe  one.  It  exposes 
the  public  treasure  to  be  plundered,  and  presents 
strong  temptation  to  an  abuse  of  trust.  Need  I  ar- 
gue the  point  ?  I  will  not :  convincing,  astounding 
facts  are  at  hand.  Recently,  two  individuals  having 
charge  of  the  public  funds  have  been  ascertained  to 
be  defaulters  to  most  extravagant  amounts ;"  one,  I 
think,  for  a  million  of  dollars,  and  the  other  a  still 
greater  sum.  It  would  be  much  safer  to  compel  the 
collector  to  place  the  funds  in  some  safe  bank  on  spe- 
cial deposit.  It  may  be  asked  in  what  the  advantage 
would  lie.  In  this,  sir.  The  transaction  would,  to 
some  extent,  be  known.  Secresy  is  the  protector  of 
crime :  pour  in  light,  and  it  dies.  The  amount  of 
money  deposited  in  bank  by  the  collector  is  known  to 
the  officers  of  the  institution,  and  so  is  the  amount 


44  THE    SUB-TREASURY    SYSTEM. 

removed  by  him,  and  even  this  danger  of  publicity 
acts  as  a  check  upon  him.  His  conduct  is  subjected 
to  scrutiny,  and  any  thing  extraordinary  in  it  attracts 
notoriety.  Can  it  be  supposed  that,  under  the  oper- 
ation of  such  a  system,  Mr.  Swartwout  could  have 
practiced  such  an  extravagant  fraud  upon  the  gov- 
ernment as  it  has  lately  suffered  at  his  hands?  or 
that  his  friend,  Mr.  Price,  could  have  been  so  success- 
ful in  his  peculations  ? 

But,  sir,  there  is  a  much  more  serious  objection  to 
this  system  than  I  have  yet  named.  I  mean  the  in- 
creased power  which  it  confers  on  the  President. 
The  public  funds  ought  to  be  placed  beyond  his  con- 
trol ;  they  ought  not  to  be  in  the  hands  of  his  crea- 
tures— of  those  of  whom  it  may  be  literally  said, 
"He  saith  to  one,  come,  and  he  cometh ;  and  to  an- 
other, go,  and  he  goeth."  The  result  would  be  the 
building  up  of  a  vast  and  overshadowing  executive 
power,  under  whose  crushing  influence  popular  lib- 
erty would  expire. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  framed 
by  men  profoundly  acquainted  with  political  philos- 
ophy. They  intended  to  secure  by  that  instrument 
as  perfect  a  distribution  of  political  power  as  could 
be  attained,  for  they  well  knew  that  to  concentrate 
them  in  the  same  hands  would  leave  but  little  hope 
for  the  existence  of  popular  liberty.  The  grand  dis- 
tinction between  the  condition  of  a  free  people  and 
of  a  nation  ruled  by  a  king  wielding  unlimited  pow- 
er, is  to  be  found  in  this:  the  one  not  only  enjoys 
actual  liberty,  but  they  are  protected  in  its  enjoy- 
ment ;  their  rights  are  guarded  by  laws ;  while  the 


THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  45 

other,  though  they  may  be  governed  by  a  wise  and 
lenient  ruler,  and  may  be  indulged  in  the  exercise  of 
their  rights  to  as  great  an  extent  as  a  people  govern- 
ing themselves,  yet  they  possess  no  security  for  their 
perpetuation :  this  is  dependent  on  the  caprice  of  one 
man. 

In  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the  exec- 
utive power  is  conferred  on  the  President.  It  is  his 
duty  to  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  observed;  and, 
to  sustain  the  high  and  important  functions  which 
belong  to  his  office,  he  commands  the  whole  military 
force  of  the  country.  Other  powers  are  assigned  to 
Congress ;  and  among  them,  the  control  of  the  pub- 
lic funds — in  itself  a  very  high  trust.  They,  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  are  to  guard  the  treas- 
ure of  the  nation  with  unrelaxing  vigilance,  and  no 
appropriation  can  be  made  without  their  action.  It 
will  at  once  be  seen  how  deeply  this  arrangement  con- 
cerns popular  liberty,  and  any  measure  which  pro- 
poses to  disturb  this  adjustment  of  powers  is  con- 
demned by  the  Constitution,  and  is  hostile  to  the 
dearest  public  interests. 

It  was  remarked  by  the  gentleman  from  Madison 
that  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  President,  by  the  Con- 
stitution, to  appoint  public  officers,  and  that  the  Treas- 
ury Department  was  attached  to  the  executive  branch 
of  the  government.  This  is  true,  sir,  but  it  was  nev- 
er thus  attached  by  the  Constitution.  The  Presi- 
dent's control  over  that  department  is  acquired  by 
indirection.  No  such  officer  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury is  named  in  the  Constitution;  but  the  general 
power  of  nominating  to  office  is  given  to  the  Presi- 


46  THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

dent,  and  by  the  existing  construction  of  his  author- 
ity, which  allows  him  to  remove  from  office  those 
who  have  been  appointed,  he  possesses  an  unlimited 
influence  over  an  officer  who,  from  the  highest  con- 
siderations, ought  to  be  wholly  independent  of  him. 
Yet  it  is  proposed  to  extend  this  dangerous  influence 
still  further.  Not  content  with  making  the  head  of 
the  Treasury  Department  the  mere  creature  of  the 
President — an  automaton  to  move  as  he  shall  direct 
— there  are  those  who  desire  to  see  the  whole  treasure 
of  the  people  placed  in  the  hands  of  subordinate  of- 
ficers— sub-treasurers,  scattered  throughout  the  coun- 
try, who  owe  their  official  existence  to  his  will,  and 
may  be  discharged  at  any  moment  by  the  opening  of 
his  lips.  Will  the  American  people  tolerate  this 
alarming  encroachment  on  their  rights  ?  It  must  at 
once  be  seen  that  it  disturbs  the  balance  of  power  in 
the  government,  and  confers  on  the  President  more 
than  kingly  authority.  Let  some  great  crisis  arrive ; 
let  a  reckless  and  grasping  leader  sit  in  the  presiden- 
tial chair ;  let  him  desire  to  accomplish  some  favorite 
scheme,  the  success  of  which  requires  money ;  if  it  be 
refused  by  Congress,  what  is  to  prevent  his  seizing 
the  public  funds  ?  The  scruples  or  remonstrances  of 
his  dependents  ?  What  answer  did  Caesar  give  when 
resisted  by  Metellus?  He  laid  his  hand  upon  his 
SWORD.  Sir,  the  lesson  is  sufficiently  instructive.  I 
will  add  to  my  own  views  those  of  General  Jackson, 
expressed  to  Congress  in  his  message  of  1835  : 

"I  need  only  add  to  what  I  have  on  former  occa- 
sions said  on  this  subject  generally,  that  in  the  regu- 
lations which  Congress  may  prescribe  respecting  the 


THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  47 

custody  of  the  public  money,  it  is  desirable  that  as 
little  discretion  as  may  be  deemed  consistent  with 
their  safe  keeping  should  be  given  to  the  executive 
agents.  No  one  can  be  more  deeply  impressed  than 
I  am  with  the  soundness  of  the  doctrine  which  re- 
strains and  limits,  by  specific  provisions,  executive 
direction,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done  consistently  with 
the  preservation  of  its  constitutional  character.  In 
respect  to  the  control  over  the  public  money,  this 
doctrine  is  peculiarly  applicable,  and  is  in  harmony 
with  the  great  principle  which  I  felt  I  was  sustain- 
ing in  the  controversy  with  the'  Bank  of  the  United 
States." 

Yet  gentlemen  who  daily  denounce  Federalists — 
who  rejoice  in  the  opposite  name — who  very  coolly 
appropriate  to  themselves  all  the  political  virtue  in 
the  land,  are  clamorous  for  a  measure  which  clothes 
the  President  with  giant  power.  I  trust,  sir,  for 
their  sakes  and  for  ours — for  the  love  I  bear  our 
common  country — for  the  hope  I  cherish  of  our  trans- 
mitting to  coming  generations  the  noble  institutions 
under  which  we  live,  that  the  system  which  those  in 
power  are  striving  to  establish  may  never  prevail  in 
this  land. 

One  of  the  resolutions  offered  by  me  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  House  proposes  the  establishment 
of  a  Southern  Bank.  Such  an  institution  is  of  great 
importance  to  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  States. 
It  would  supply  a  circulation  of  wide  credit,  and  at 
the  same  time  aid  greatly  our  efforts  to  open  a  direct 
trade  with  foreign  countries.  In  the  Northern  cities 
there  is  a  vast  accumulation  of  ^capital,  and  of  late 


48  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

the  most  extensive  financial  arrangements  have  been 
effected.  The  country  is  rapidly  accommodating  it- 
self to  circumstances ;  and  we  must  here  bring  about 
a  countervailing  influence,  or  we  shall  be  again  out- 
stripped. I  certainly  do  not  desire  to  foster  section- 
al prejudices  ;  there  ought  to  be  no  hostility  between 
the  North  and  the  South;  but  there  should  exist  a 
generous  rivalry.  We  are  allied  to  each  other  by  the 
glorious  recollections  of  the  past — by  a  participation 
in  common  struggles  and  common  triumphs,  and  by 
the  proud  destiny  which  the  future  unfolds  to  us. 
Yet,  sir,  the  South  is  "my  own,  my  native  land" — 
my  home,  and  the  birth-place  of  my  children.  Her 
people  are  my  people ;  her  hopes  are  my  hopes ;  her 
interests  are  my  interests.  I  desire  to  see  her  cities 
grow,  her  languid  commerce  revive,  her  ports  crowd- 
ed with  shipping,  her  agricultural  industry  enriching 
her  own  sons,  and  her  merchants  u  princes  in  the 
land."  I  wish  to  see  our  educated  young  men  engage 
more  generally  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  thus  aid 
in  developing  the  resources  and  increasing  the  wealth 
of  their  country  by  a  comprehensive  and  enlightened 
conduct  of  commercial  business.  It  would  gratify 
me  much  to  see  one  of  my  own  sons  engage  success- 
fully in  this  honorable  pursuit.  Why  should  the 
South  longer  hold  back?  Compare  the  exports  of 
Charleston  with  those  of  New  York :  the  difference 
is  considerable;  but  the  difference  in  the  amount  re- 
spectively imported  into  each  of  these  cities  is  vastly 
greater.  Let  us  stand  idle  no  longer.  But  individ- 
ual capital  in  the  South  not  being  employed  in  the 
importing  trade,  it  is  important  at  once  to  afford  the 


THE    SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM.  49 

means  to  those  who  will  engage  in  it  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  a  bank  as  I  have  mentioned.  While 
it  aids  the  great  objects  of  our  wishes,  it  will  supply 
such  a  circulation  as  our  wants  demand. 

I  have  thus,  sir,  expressed  my  views  of  the  impor- 
tant subject  under  consideration.  It  may  be  the  last 
act  of  my  public  life.  I  know  that  the  prescriptive 
spirit  of  party  is  gaining  strength,  and  that  it  toler- 
ates no  freedom  of  thought.  If  it  be,  I  shall  carry 
with  me  into  private  life  the  consolation  derived  from 
the  advice  of  Cato  of  Utica  to  his  son:  "My  son, 
avoid  public  life :  it  is  incompatible  with  what  is  due 
to  virtue  and  to  the  gods."  If  the  time  has  come 
when  all  independence  of  opinion  must  be  sacrificed 
at  the  shrine  of  power — when  the  people  will  sustain 
no  man  who  dares  to  be  candid,  then  I  desire  to 
have  no  participation  in  the  administration  of  public 
affairs.  I  can  be  much  happier  and  much  more  prof- 
itably employed  in  giving  my  attention  to  humbler 
duties.  But,  sir,  I  entreat  gentlemen  to  pause — I 
urge  them  to  resist  this  measure.  I  trust  that  they 
will  not  lend  their  aid  in  fastening  it  upon  the  coun- 
try. Let  us  look  at  history;  let  us  remember  that, 
in  the  language  of  Bolingbroke,  it  is  philosophy 
teaching  by  examples.  By  such  measures  as  that 
which  I  now  call  upon  them  to  resist — by  surrender- 
ing all  power  into  the  hands  of  a  favorite  ruler,  pop- 
ular liberty  has  always  been  betrayed.  Let  us  be 
faithful  to  our  great  trust.  From  the  battle-fields  of 
all  the  earth  upon  which  Liberty  has  set  up  her 
standard,  there  comes  to  us  a  cry  to  be  faithful ;  from 
the  crumbled  senate-halls  of  nations  forever  passed 

D 


50  THE   SUB-TREASURY   SYSTEM. 

away  there  comes  to  us  an  imploring  appeal  not  to 
betray  the  cause  of  mankind.  Let  us  not  be  deaf. 
But,  sir,  if  this  system  must  prevail — if,  in  all  its  co- 
lossal proportions,  it  is  to  be  fixed  upon  the  Ameri- 
can people,  and  their  liberties  shall  expire  under  it, 
"thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it."  Fisher  Ames  at  one 
time,  upon  the  floor  of  Congress,  wished  that  he  was 
able  to  raise  his  voice  until  it  reached  every  log  cabin 
beyond  the  mountains,  that  he  might  warn  the  un- 
suspecting inhabitants  of  the  impending  Indian  tom- 
ahawk. I  wish,  sir,  that  I  could  make  my  voice 
heard  in  every  dwelling  throughout  this  land.  Fee- 
ble as  it  is,  I  would  admonish  a  great  people  to  rise 
in  their  strength,  and  put  down  a  system  which,  if 
once  established,  may  fix  upon  them  and  their  chil- 
dren a  GIANT  DESPOTISM. 


THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OP  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  JANUARY  6th,  1846. 

The  Speaker  announced  as  the  unfinished  business  the  following  joint  reso- 
lution, reported  by  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  forth- 
with cause  notice  to  be  given  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain  that  the  Con- 
vention between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  concerning  the  Territory 
of  Oregon,  of  the  sixth  of  August,  1827,  signed  at  London,  shall  be  annulled  and 
abrogated  twelve  months  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  term  of  notice,  conform- 
ably to  the  second  article  of  the  said  convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  1827." 

Mr.  Milliard,  being  entitled  to  the  floor,  rose  and  said  : 

MR.  SPEAKER, — In  entering  upon  the  discussion  of 
the  great  question  at  present  before  the  House,  it 
will  be  proper  for  a  moment  to  recur  to  the  history 
of  the  relations  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  with  that  of  Great  Britain  in  regard  to  the 
Territory  of  Oregon.  It  is  well  known  that,  after 
several  fruitless  attempts  had  been  made  to  adjust  the 
difference  between  them  in  relation  to  the  sovereignty 
of  that  district  of  country,  both  powers  had  at  length 
agreed  to  adjourn  the  question  over,  and  they  had  mu- 
tually entered  into  the  convention  of  1818,  by  which 
treaty  it  was  understood  that  the  two  parties  were  to 
enjoy  certain  privileges  in  regard  to  the  territory, 
which  were  clearly  specified  and  defined.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1827,  when  this  convention  was  about  to  ex- 
pire by  its  own  limitation,  provision  was  made  to  per- 
petuate this  mutual  understanding,  simply  with  the 


52  THE    OREGON    QUESTION. 

purpose  of  preserving  peace  between  the  parties,  and 
without  yielding  any  portion  of  the  original  claims 
which  had  been  respectively  put  forth.  It  is  now 
proposed  in  this  House  to  terminate  that  convention, 
conformably  to  a  provisional  article  embodied  in  the 
instrument  itself. 

Should  that  termination  be  brought  about  as  pro- 
posed, what  will  be  the  relative  positions  of  this  coun- 
try and  of  Great  Britain  in  regard  to  the  Oregon  Ter- 
ritory ?  For  an  answer  to  this  question,  we  are  refer- 
red back  to  the  relation  subsisting  between  them  be- 
fore the  convention  was  entered  into.  That  relation 
must,  then,  be  renewed,  and  the  two  nations  will 
stand  as  conflicting  claimants  before  the  civilized 
world  for  the  entire  control  over  the  whole  territory. 
Here,  then,  comes  in  the  question  as  to  our  title — 
whether  founded  on  discovery,  exploration,  and  set- 
tlement by  our  own  citizens,  or  resting  on  the  claims 
of  Spain ;  for  we  shall  bring  both  our  own  title  and 
the  title  of  Spain  to  fortify  our  position,  when  we 
meet  our  competitor  in  the  presence  of  the  civilized 
world.  I  shall  not  enter  on  this  question  of  title ;  it 
has  recently  been  exhibited  with  great  ability,  and  I 
should  only  render  myself  tedious  by  repeating  argu- 
ments which  have  already  been  placed  in  the  clearest 
light.  I  simply  desire  to  say,  that  on  the  question 
of  our  title  to  Oregon  I  rely  mainly  on  the  previous 
title  of  Spain,  although  I  am  far  from  underrating 
the  merits  of  discoveries  and  settlements  in  that  re- 
gion by  our  own  enterprising  citizens.  I  admit  these, 
and  duly  appreciate  them ;  but,  as  I  have  already 
said,  my  main  reliance  is  placed  on  the  Spanish  title 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  53 

— a  title  which  we  did  not  possess  at  the  time  our  dis- 
pute with  England  arose  ;  for  it  is  my  belief  that,  had 
this  title  then  been  ours,  the  convention  of  1818  would 
never  have  had  an  existence.  So  long  as  this  title 
remained  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  Great  Britain  treat- 
ed it  with  the  contempt  which  marked  all  her  conduct 
toward  that  power.  Pitt's  rooted  aversion  to  Spain 
is  well  known ;  he  inherited  it  from  his  father,  and  it 
made  itself  manifest  in  all  his  public  conduct  when 
the  occasion  provoked  it ;  indeed,  it  was  but  the  sen- 
timent of  the  British  nation.  So  that,  although  the 
moral  power  of  that  title  was  as  great  as  it  is  now,  it 
was  not  regarded  with  the  respect  which  was  due  to 
it.  That  title  has  been  recently  so  convincingly,  I 
may  say  so  triumphantly,  pleaded  by  our  present  Sec- 
retary of  State,  that  it  must  have  carried  actual  dis- 
may into  the  British  cabinet,  and  it  has  certainly 
placed  our  own  claim  to  the  country  upon  more  ele- 
vated and  commanding  ground  than  it  ever  stood  on 
before.  It  is  now  an  American  title ;  and,  with  what- 
ever contempt  Great  Britain  might  have  felt  herself 
warranted  in  treating  it  when  in  the  possession  of 
Spain,  she  will  not  so  treat  it  when  it  is  put  forth 
before  the  world  as  the  claim  of  the  United  States. 
I  do  not  speak  this  boastfully,  but  I  desire  that  Great 
Britain  shall  know  that  we  comprehend  our  rights, 
and,  I  thank  God,  we  are  able  to  maintain  them. 

I  do  not  desire,  sir,  to  be  understood  as  putting 
out  of  the  question  our  own  American  title. 

A  late  Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Calhoun),  whose 
fame  is  commensurate  with  the  extent  of  civilization, 
has  placed  the  American  claim  on  Captain  Gray's  dis- 


54  THE    OREGON    QUESTION. 

covery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  on 
that  admitted  principle  of  international  law  that,  by 
whatsoever  nation  the  mouth  of  a  river  is  discovered, 
to  that  nation  belongs  the  whole  of  the  valley  which 
is  drained  by  its  waters.  I  feel  this  claim  to  be  of 
great  consequence ;  and  I  must  confess  that  I  felt  the 
greatest  amazement  when,  in  the  debate  of  Saturday, 
a  distinguished  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr. 
Winthrop)  disclaimed  all  reliance  upon  it.  Rich  as 
Massachusetts  is — and  I  acknowledge  her  rich  in  all 
that  can  give  elevation  to  a  state — I  do  not  think  her, 
however, -in  circumstances  to  abandon  such  an  honor 
as  this  discovery.  The  gentleman  came  to  this  House, 
as  I  have  understood,  with  a  rich  inheritance  of  an- 
cestral fame,  to  which  he  has  largely  added  in  well- 
merited  reputation  of  his  own ;  but  if  he  thinks  him- 
self entitled  to  disclaim  and  cast  away  this  discovery 
by  Captain  Gray,  I  will  take  it  up.  If  Massachusetts 
cast  him  off,  I  will  claim  him  for  the  United  States. 
The  gentleman  has  said  that  Captain  Gray,  as  a  navi- 
gator in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific,  had  no  thought  of 
making  discoveries  on  behalf  of  his  country,  or  of  add- 
ing any  thing  to  her  territorial  claims,  but  had  sim- 
ply been  prosecuting  a  little  harmless  trade  in  fish 
and  peltry.  This  may  be  so ;  but  still  he  coasted 
those  shores  in  a  vessel  of  his  own,  with  our  national 
flag  waving  over  his  head — in  a  vessel  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  doctrine  of  an  eminent  statesman,  whose 
fame  belongs  alike  to  Massachusetts  and  to  his  whole 
country,  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  American  soil. 

Mr.  Webster,  in  his  correspondence  with  Lord  Ash- 
burton,  states  the  doctrine  with  great  clearness  and 
force. 


THE    OREGON  QUESTION.  55 

"But,  nevertheless,  the  law  of  nations,  as  I  have 
stated  it,  and  the  statutes  of  governments  founded  on 
that  law,  as  I  have  referred  to  them,  show  that  en- 
lightened nations,  in  modern  times,  do  clearly  hold 
that  the  jurisdiction  and  laws  of  a  nation  accompany 
her  ships,  not  only  over  the  high  seas,  but  into  ports 
and  harbors,  or  wheresoever  else  they  may  be  water- 
borne,  for  the  general  purpose  of  governing  and  reg- 
ulating the  rights,  duties,  and  obligations  of  those  on 
board  thereof;  and  that  to  the  extent  of  the  exercise 
of  this  jurisdiction  they  are  considered  as  parts  of  the 
territory  of  the  nation  herself." 

This  principle,  thus  laid  down,  is  not  likely  to  be 
disputed  hereafter  among  civilized  nations ;  and  it  re- 
sults from  it  that,  while  the  jurisdiction  of  the  nation 
silently  accompanies  the  vessel  in  all  its  course,  ex- 
tending over  it  sleepless  and  efficient  protection,  all 
the  discoveries  which  that  vessel  makes  are  for  the 
nation.  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  Captain  Gray, 
when  in  that  distant  region  he  entered  the  mouth  of 
that  great  stream  which  had  never  before  been  enter- 
ed by  any  navigator,  gave  to  it  the  name  of  his  ship 
— COLUMBIA- — thus  identifying  with  it  through  all 
time  memories  of  his  country  and  his  home. 

[Mr.  Winthrop  rose  to  explain,  and  the  floor  being 
yielded  to  him  for  that  purpose,  he  went  on  to  say 
that  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Alabama  seemed 
entirely  to  have  misunderstood  him.  So  far  from 
disclaiming  or  casting  away  this  discovery  of  Captain 
Gray,  he  had,  on  the  contrary,  expressly  said  that  he 
considered  it,  after  all,  as  our  best  resort,  and  as  con- 
taining in  itself  the  best  claim  we  could  show  to  the 


56  THE   OREGON    QUESTION. 

possession  of  Oregon ;  and  he  had  added  that  Massa- 
chusetts, and  especially  the  people  of  Boston,  felt 
proud  of  Gray  as  a  fellow-citizen,  and  of  his  discovery 
as  shedding  a  lustre  upon  the  city  of  his  birth  and 
the  state  of  which  he  was  a  citizen.] 

Mr.  Hilliard  resumed,  and  said  he  was  glad  to  be 
set  right,  and,  if  he  had  misapprehended  the  gentle- 
man, to  have  that  misapprehension  corrected.  He 
certainly  had  not  intended  to  misrepresent  him. 

[Mr.  Winthrop.      Certainly  not.] 

Still,  sir,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  gentleman  attaches 
too  little  value  and  importance  to  the  title,  of  any 
sort,  which  we  hold  to  the  Oregon  country.  When 
Captain  Gray  trod  the  deck  of  his  ship,  having  the 
American  colors  at  his  mast-head,  whatever  new  ter- 
ritory or  river  he  discovered  was  for  us,  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  I  congratulate  Massachusetts 
that  one  of  her  native-born  sons  has  by  his  enter- 
prise added  so  much  splendor  to  the  records  of  early 
discovery  on  this  continent.  Honored  be  the  name 
of  Gray.  I  am  prepared  to  stand  by  the  title  of 
which  he  has  furnished  so  valuable  an  element.  As 
to  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Winthrop), 
I  can  say  with  entire  truth  that  I  greatly  admire  his 
spirit  and  bearing ;  on  most  points  we  entirely  agree  ; 
but  I  can  not  consent  with  the  gentleman  in  any  de- 
gree to  disparage  our  title,  because  it  is  to  be  set 
against  that  of  a  powerful  and  imperious  nation.  I 
will  not  yield  a  tittle  of  it.  The  gentleman  talked 
slightingly  about  musty  records.  I  do  not  share  in 
this  feeling;  I  reverence  musty  records,  and  hold 
them  as  precious.  With  a  musty  record  I  can  up- 


THE   OREGON   QUESTION.  57 

turn  the  whole  face  of  human  society.  With  the 
musty  record  of  Magna  Charta  in  my  hand,  I  can 
revolutionize  the  face  of  Europe,  if  permitted  to  pre- 
sent its  principles  to  the  minds  of  her  population.  I 
trust  that  if  the  dust  of  age  and  neglect  should  ever 
gather  on  the  sacred  volume  of  our  Constitution,  and 
there  be  a  descendant  of  mine  on  this  floor,  represent- 
ing a  Southern  people  as  I  do,  he  will  be  able  to  call 
up  from  that  musty  record  a  moral  power  potent 
enough  to  shield  their  liberties,  and  to  resuscitate  and 
bless  the  condition  of  society  throughout  this  land. 

On  the  evidence  contained  in  musty  records  I  found 
my  belief  that  every  inch  of  Oregon  is  ours.  I  can 
see  no  break  in  our  title  from  latitude  42°  to  latitude 
54°  40/.  I  do  not  say  that  I  would  not  arrange  for 
any  portion  of  the  territory  lying  between  those  par- 
allels. It  is  not  for  me  to  make  any  such  arrange- 
ment. That  power  has  been  placed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion in  the  hands  of  another  branch  of  this  govern- 
ment. It  is  altogether  proper  that  the  President 
should  regard  all  the  great  interests  of  the  country  in 
adjusting  a  difficult  national  question.  I  am  not  dis- 
posed to  disturb  his  functions.  I  do  not  wish  to  com- 
mit the  House  on  that  point.  But  I  hold  our  title  to 
be  so  clear  and  so  capable  of  demonstration,  that,  but 
for  the  colossal  power  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  haugh- 
tiness with  which  she  has  been  accustomed  to  treat 
all  other  nations  in  the  conduct  of  her  diplomacy,  I 
can  not  but  believe  that  she  would  withdraw  from 
the  contest,  overwhelmed  by  the  force  of  argument 
which  she  can  not  refute. 

But  there  are  some  who  admit  that  Great  Britain 


58  THE   OBEGON   QUESTION. 

can  not  maintain  her  claims  to  the  territory  in  dis- 
pute upon  the  grounds  to  which  I  have  referred,  who 
yet  insist  that  she  may  extend  her  possessions  in  that 
region  upon  the  principle  of  continuity  of  domain. 
What  right  has  Great  Britain  to  set  up  a  claim  to 
Oregon  on  the  ground  of  continuity  of  territory  ?  Is 
the  seat  of  her  sovereignty  on  this  continent  ?  No  ; 
her  possessions  here  and  her  rights  here  are  colonial. 
This  continent  is  the  seat  of  our  empire.  In  this 
view,  the  venerable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
(Mr.  Adams),  and  all  who  have  examined  the  sub- 
ject, will,  I  am  sure,  concur,  and  they  will  bear  me 
out  in  saying  that  this  ought  to  outweigh  every  oth- 
er consideration  in  a  question  of  this  character.  The 
seat  of  England's  sovereignty  is  across  the  Atlantic. 
Holding  here  only  colonial  possessions,  she  seeks  to 
extend  them  still  farther,  when  neither  the  compact- 
ness nor  the  security  of  her  empire  requires  it,  and 
when  her  claims  come  in  conflict  with  those  of  a  na- 
tion holding  their  original  sovereignty  on  this  conti- 
nent. 

If,  then,  our  title  to  the  territory  of  Oregon  is  clear, 
the  next  question  which  presents  itself  is  as  to  our 
wisest  course  to  perfect  that  title.  What  course  ought 
we  to  take  to  secure  the  possession  of  that  which  is 
ours  by  title  ?  In  my  judgment — and  I  make  the  as- 
sertion with  profound  deference  to  the  opinions  of 
others — u  inactivity"  is  no  longer  "masterly."  I  re- 
peat it,  inactivity  is  no  longer  masterly.  There  are 
occasions  when,  to  save  what  is  dear  to  us,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  act  promptly :  to  act  with  decision,  and 
to  act  immediately,  is  often  the  only  way  to  act  with 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  59 

effect.  I  do  not  see  that  we  have  any  course  left  but 
to  act,  whether  we  regard  the  perpetuity  of  peace,  or 
the  possession  of  the  territory  in  dispute.  If  we  would 
avoid  war,  we  must  have  the  causes  of  war  passed 
upon  and  settled.  It  is  not  always  by  adjourning 
over  great,  and  difficult,  and  delicate  questions,  that 
war  can  be  avoided.  Our  condition  in  regard  to  Or- 
egon is  such  as  to  demand  action — intelligent,  prompt, 
decisive,  comprehensive  action.  If  we  should  leave 
this  question  open,  in  the  present  state  of  the  two 
countries,  who  can  avoid  seeing  that  war  is  inevita- 
ble? 

When  Lord  Ashburton  returned  to  England,  after 
having  successfully  arranged  the  difficulties  about  the 
northeastern  boundary,  and  was  congratulated  in  the 
British  Parliament  on  his  success,  I  believe  that  ex- 
perienced statesman  said  that  the  national  sky  was 
then  clear  and  without  a  cloud,  saving  one  minute 
speck  upon  the  horizon,  which  he  did  not  doubt 
would  soon  disappear.  But  how  has  his  prediction 
been  fulfilled?  That  little  speck,  then  no  bigger  than 
a  man's  hand,  and  scarce  perceptible  on  the  far-off 
margin  of  the  heavens,  has  since  become  a  dark,  and 
lowering,  and  portentous  cloud ;  it  has  swept  over 
the  face  of  the  sky,  and  hangs  all  over  our  north- 
western frontier,  gloomy  as  night.  The  whole  aspect 
of  the  question  is  changed ;  and,  if  we  wish  now  to 
maintain  our  position  as  the  friends  of  peace,  it  is 
time  we  awoke  to  action.  We  must  assert  our  rights ; 
we  must  shun  a  temporizing  policy ;  we  must  adopt 
vigorous  measures,  and  carry  them  to  the  very  far- 
thest verge  to  which  they  can  be  maintained  without 


60  THE   OREGON   QUESTION. 

a  violation  of  the  terms  of  the  convention ;  other- 
wise we  shall  find  that  the  population  of  the  two  na- 
tions, intermixing  in  that  remote  territory,  carrying 
with  them  the  prejudices  and  the  heat  of  the  con- 
tending parties,  protected  by  and  amenable  to  con- 
flicting jurisdictions,  entering  into  the  eager  competi- 
tion of  trade,  will,  at  no  distant  day,  precipitate  us 
into  a  war  with  Great  Britain.  V  v&: 

Nor,  sir,  is  the  danger  of  war  all  that  is  involved 
in  the  adjournment  of  this  question ;  we  incur  the 
danger  of  losing  the  territory  altogether.  And  why 
do  I  think  so  ?  From  the  whole  colonial  history  of 
the  British  empire.  There  was  a  time  when  Spain 
possessed  great  and  extensive  colonies,  but  they  have 
dwindled  away.  There  was  a  time  when  France 
could  boast  of  her  colonies,  but  they  have  dwindled 
away.  There  was  a  time  when  Holland  swept  the 
seas  with  her  fleets,  and  held  important  colonial  pos- 
sessions, but  they  have  dwindled  away.  In  the  mean 
time,  Great  Britain  has  gone  on,  growing  in  strength, 
extending  in  power,  and  spreading  her  armies  abroad 
into  every  part  of  the  habitable  world.  Her  lan- 
guage, her  laws,  her  military  prowess  fill  both  hemi- 
spheres, while  she  has  belted  the  globe  with  her  for- 
tresses, to  say  nothing  of  her  colonies.  The  British 
people  and  their  government  well  understand  the 
management  of  colonies.  When  in  Europe  a  short 
time  since,  a  distinguished  British  diplomatist  said 
to  me,  u  Sir,  France  does  not  understand  how  to 
manage  colonies;  we  do  understand  it;"  and  he  spoke 
the  truth.  Since  the  year  1609,  Great  Britain  has 
acquired  no  less  than  forty-one  colonies,  twenty-four 


THE   OREGON    QUESTION.  61 

of  which  she  has  obtained  by  settlement,  nine  by  ca- 
pitulation, and  eight  by  cession.  In  the  possession 
of  Oregon  she  seeks  to  plant  herself  there  permanent- 
ly, and  is  employing  all  her  power  and  all  her  skill 
to  establish  her  authority  over  the  greater  part  of 
that  region. 

At  Willamette  Falls,  in  latitude  45°  20',  there  is 
a  prosperous  and  growing  settlement ;  a  factory,  es- 
tablished by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  is  in  oper- 
ation there,  under  the  control  of  Dr.  M'Laughlin,  fac- 
tor to  that  company,  and  whose  copartner  is  her  maj- 
esty's magistrate  for  that  district.  This  settlement, 
sometimes  called  Oregon  City,  is  under  the  influence 
of  this  Dr.  M  'Laughlin,  a  man  of  fine  person,  of  fin- 
ished and  winning  manners,  of  great  wealth  and  un- 
bounded hospitality ;  an  intelligent  man,  long  expe- 
rienced in  business,  and  well-informed  on  all  subjects 
connected  with  his  position.  Under  the  auspices  of 
such  an  individual,  have  we  not  reason  to  expect  that 
Great  Britain  will  go  on  to  plant  herself  in  the  pos- 
session and  occupancy  of  the  country  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  we  can  not  expel  her,  at  least  not  without  a 
severe  struggle? 

If  we  refuse  to  protect  the  thousands  of  our  own 
citizens  who  are,  and  the  multitude  more  who  soon 
will  be,  in  Oregon,  may  they  not  conclude,  as  they 
are  neglected  by  then:  own  government,  to  throw  off 
their  allegiance,  and  go  over  to  a  government  which 
never  refuses  and  never  forgets  to  protect  its  citizens 
in  every  part  of  the  world  ?  Their  right  to  do  so  is 
a  recognized  principle  of  international  law.  If  the 
government  refuses  its  protection,  citizens  may  throw 


62  THE    OREGON    QUESTION. 

off  their  allegiance,  and  transfer  themselves  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  government  that  will  do  its  duty ; 
or,  they  may  determine  to  set  up  for  themselves,  and 
rear  an  independent  and  rival  government.  Under 
these  circumstances,  I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  ex- 
tending to  them  our  laws  and  protection. 

I  propose  now,  sir,  to  consider  the  action  we  should 
take  in  carrying  out  this  important  policy;  and,  first, 
as  to  this  question  of  notice.  I  think  we  ought  at 
once  to  provide  for  giving  the  notice  so  often  referred 
to  in  this  debate ;  nay,  I  think  we  must  do  it.  Yet 
I  am  not  for  doing  it  either  in  the  form  proposed  in 
the  bill  reported  by  the  honorable  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Territories  (Mr.  Douglass),  or  in  the 
resolution  more  recently  reported  by  the  distinguish- 
ed chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs. 
It  is  my  misfortune  to  differ  in  opinion  from  both, 
and  it  is  my  purpose,  before  resuming  my  seat,  to 
offer  an  amendment,  striking  out  in  the  resolution 
the  words  which  refer  to  giving  this  notice  by  a  joint 
act  of  both  houses,  and  inserting  a  provision  empow- 
ering the  President  of  the  United  States  to  give  such 
notice  when,  in  his  opinion,  the  public  welfare  shall 
require  it.  I  was  at  first  inclined,  with  the  gentle- 
man from  Kentucky  near  me  (Mr.  Davis),  to  consider 
the  giving  of  this  notice  as  an  exercise  of  the  execu- 
tive power  with  which  the  House  had  nothing  to  do ; 
but,  on  further  reflection,  I  have  changed  that  opin- 
ion. It  is  very  true  that  the  formation  of  such  a 
convention  is  an  exercise  of  the  treaty-making  pow- 
er, but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  the  dissolv- 
ing the  convention  must  be  the  exclusive  act  of  that 


THE   OREGON   QUESTION.  63 

power.  That  is  a  different  question ;  because  the 
"  government  of  the  United  States/'  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  convention,  was  one  of  the  high  contract- 
ing parties,  and  of  that  government  this  House,  as 
well  as  the  President  and  Senate,  constitute  a  part. 
Yet  there  are  grave  reasons  why  Congress,  instead 
of  taking  the  power  into  its  own  hands,  should  lodge 
it  in  the  hands  of  the  President.  I  shall  not  be  sus- 
pected of  a  disposition  to  increase,  unnecessarily,  the 
power  of  the  President ;  but  I  am  willing  to  give  the 
present  executive  the  power  which  he  asks  in  this 
matter.  I  am  for  giving  to  the  executive  all  the  en- 
ergy and  efficiency  which  he  requires  to  act  in  a  mat- 
ter of  this  kind.  The  country  has  placed  the  Presi- 
dent where  he  is,  and  the  responsibility  is  his.  When 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  learns  that  he  is 
clothed  with  this  power,  they  will  comprehend  what 
a  mighty  element  it  is,  and  will  be  the  more  inclined 
to  act  with  deference  to  him  and  to  us.  It  seems  to 
me  that  all  the  friends  of  peace  in  the  House  should 
consent  to  such  an  arrangement.  It  has  been  said 
very  generally  that  negotiations  have  been  renewed 
at  London — 

[Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Foreign  Affairs.  That  is  not  a  fact.  They  have 
not  been  renewed.] 

If  not,  they  may  yet  be.  I  trust  they  will  be.  I 
am  for  multiplying  the  chances  for  adjustment  and 
peace.  The  President  will  have  the  whole  field  be- 
fore him,  and  I  am  for  lodging  with  him  this  great 
element  of  negotiation.  As  proposed  by  the  bill  from 
the  Committee  on  Territories,  and  by  the  resolution 


64  THE   OREGON   QUESTION. 

now  under  consideration,  the  notice  is  made  absolute; 
it  goes  forth  in  a  hostile  shape,  and  no  choice  is  left 
to  the  President  as  to  times  and  seasons,  which  are 
often  matters  of  great  importance.  The  power,  if 
given  as  I  propose  it,  will  be  quite  as  effectual  as  if 
exercised  absolutely  by  the  House,  yet  it  will  leave 
to  the  wisdom  and  discretion  of  the  executive  the  se- 
lection of  the  manner  and  time  of  giving  the  notice. 
It  imposes  on  him  no  responsibility  which  any  exec- 
utive ought  to  wish  to  shun.  It  places  him  in  a 
grand  position,  invested  with  ample  power,  conferred 
by  the  confidence  of  his  country,  and  it  opens  before 
him  the  opportunity  of  accomplishing  great  good  for 
the  nation  and  for  the  world. 

I  wish  to  present  another  view.  I  desire  the  adop- 
tion of  a  different  plan  from  that  which  has  been 
reported  from  the  Committee  on  Territories  as  to 
the  extension  of  our  laws  over  Oregon.  It  is  a  part 
of  the  plan  proposed  by  the  committee  to  make  do- 
nations of  land  to  actual  settlers,  and  this  while  the 
convention  still  continues  in  force;  this  I  can  not 
but  consider  as  a  violation  of  that  instrument.  I  do 
not  think  so  as  to  the  principle  of  settlement ;  our 
people  may  go  into  that  country  in  any  numbers,  and 
they  ought  to  be  protected.  The  bill  provides,  too, 
for  the  extension  of  the  laws  of  Iowa  over  Oregon. 
This  will  be  a  mere  nominal  extension  of  jurisdiction, 
and  will  result  in  no  practical  good.  It  will  serve 
only  to  make  the  settlers  in  that  remote  district  of 
country  acquainted  with  our  laws  by  their  threaten- 
ings,  but  the  measure  can  afford  them  no  efficient 
protection.  I  should  prefer  the  establishment  of  a 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  65 

territorial  government,  so  organized  as  not  to  conflict 
with  the  provisions  of  the  convention.  My  plan 
would  be  to  send  them  out  a  governor — a  sagacious, 
prudent,  experienced,  cautious  man,  who  would  be 
able  to  sweep  the  whole  field  with  his  eye,  and  give 
information  and  counsel  to  the  government  here  as 
to  what  was  doing  and  what  ought  to  be  done.  If 
any  gentleman  doubts  our  power  to  establish  such  a 
government  over  the  whole  of  the  territory,  or  ap- 
prehends collision  with  the  British  authorities,  then, 
I  say,  place  your  governor  south  of  the  Columbia 
River;  that,  at  least,  is  a  portion  of  the  territory 
which,  I  presume,  no  gentleman  in  the  House  is  pre- 
pared to  surrender.  The  language  of  every  one  here, 
I  doubt  not,  will  be  like  that  of  the  poet : 

"  And  many  a  banner  shall  be  torn, 
And  many  a  knight  to  ground  be  borne, 
And  many  a  sheaf  of  shafts  be  spent, 
Ere  Scotland's  king  shall  cross  the  Trent." 

The  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  are 
there,  and  British  magistrates  of  some  description 
are  there  also;  why  should  not  our  officers  and  our 
magistrates  be  there  too?  Will  not  then*  authority 
carry  with  it  respect  for  the  American  laws  and  gov- 
ernment? 

Besides  the  measure  which  I  have  just  been  con- 
sidering, certain  resolutions  have  been  introduced 
here  which  I  desire  for  a  moment  to  refer  to.  Those 
offered  by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr. 
Winthrop),  which  look  to  the  adjustment  of  the  Ore- 
gon dispute  without  war,  I  certainly  admire.  The 
spirit  in  which  they  are  presented  calls  for  my  pro- 
foundest  respect,  and  I  hail  them  as  the  exponent  of 

E 


66  THE   OREGON    QUESTION. 

the  sentiment  of  an  enlightened  and  Christian  age ; 
and  yet  I  can  not  vote  for  them.  In  my  humble 
judgment,  the  matter  to  which  they  refer — the  mode 
of  adjusting  a  pending  political  question — belongs  to 
another  branch  of  this  government,  and  their  adop- 
tion by  us  might  seriously  interfere  with  the  exercise 
of  its  functions.  As  to  the  counter  resolution  intro- 
duced by  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Doug- 
lass), I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  it.  It  declares  that 
the  whole  of  Oregon  is  ours  up  to  the  parallel  of  54° 
40',  and  is  intended  to  commit  this  House  against 
any  negotiation  which  brings  us  less  than  that  extent 
of  territory.  Now  I  have  already  stated  my  person- 
al conviction  as  to  the  extent  of  our  rights,  but  I  will 
not  consent  to  express  any  legislative  opinion  on  a 
matter  which  clearly  belongs  to  another  department. 
I  am  for  giving  the  executive  full  discretion  and  the 
amplest  scope.  This  is  no  party  question ;  it  sweeps 
beyond  all  such  considerations,  and,  in  the  measures 
connected  with  it,  party  feelings  and  influences  should 
be  far  from  every  mind.  The  country  is  in  a  crisis. 
I  feel  it  to  be  a  crisis;  and  I  am  ready  to  say  God 
speed  to  the  man  who  shall  carry  us  honorably  and 
safely  through  it.  At  an  hour  like  this,  I  will  vote 
for  no  resolutions  embodying  opinions  on  the  one 
hand  or  the  other.  Let  the  government  take  ground 
which  is  impregnable,  and  maintain  it  with  a  firm- 
ness that  shall  command  respect. 

And  now,  sir,  I  am  met  with  the  question,  "Sup- 
pose  these  measures  should  lead  to  war?"  I  do  not 
think  they  will  lead  to  war;  they  ought  not.  But 
we  are  not  at  liberty,  in  this  matter,  to  turn  away 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  67 

from  a  just  consideration  of  the  national  rights  and 
the  national  honor,  to  look  at  consequences.  "We  are 
going  onward,  as  we  should,  protecting  our  own  citi- 
zens. We  are  folio  wing  the  example  of  the  republic 
of  Koine,  which  caused  Roman  law  to  prevail,  and 
the  aegis  of  Roman  protection  to  be  extended  wher- 
ever Roman  citizens  passed.  I  abhor  war.  Re- 
views have  no  charms  for  me.  The  detailed  history 
of  battles,  and  all  the  slaughters  of  victory,  do  but 
disgust  me.  I  never  look  with  admiration  on  scenes 
like  these,  unless  it  is  when  I  see  a  brave  and  suffer- 
ing people,  borne  down  by  oppression,  rising  up,  with 
united  heart,  to  beat  back  their  oppressors. 

In  regard  to  the  lust  of  conquest,  which  has  been 
spoken  of  as  being  a  derogation  to  our  national  char- 
acter, I  am  ready  to  confess  that  I  have  heard  with 
regret  the  language  held  by  some  gentlemen  here 
about  pushing  forward  our  acquisitions,  and  planting 
the  American  eagle  on  various  points  of  this  conti- 
nent, and  all  over  the  world.  The  expression  of  such 
sentiments  is  the  very  course  to  arm  all  the  world 
against  us.  The  French  Revolution  has  operated 
more  than  all  other  things  to  disgrace  and  overthrow 
all  republican  ideas  in  Europe.  And  why?  Be- 
cause the  lust  of  conquest  which  grew  out  of  and  ac- 
companied that  revolution  rose  so  high  as  to  become 
a  terror  to  the  world.  France — republican  France — 
sent  her  armies  abroad  in  every  direction.  Their 
movements  evinced  the  highest  military  skill,  and 
were  followed  every  where  by  the  most  splendid  vic- 
tories, until  French  valor  was  at  once  the  admiration 
arid  the  dread  of  all  surrounding  nations,  and  the 


68  THE    OREGON    QUESTION. 

name  of  France  was  like  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  to 
the  remotest  bounds  of  the  world.  But  what  was  the 
effect?  A  terrible  retribution.  And  the  memory  of 
those  conquests  and  those  costly  victories  is  now  so 
linked  to  the  notion  of  republicanism  in  Europe  that 
nothing  can  break  the  association.  [Republican  ideas 
must  struggle  up  for  half  a  century  before  they  can 
reach  the  position  they  held  in  Europe  before  that 
great  convulsion.  I  wish  for  nothing  of  the  kind 
among  us.  I  deprecate  every  indication  of  such  a 
spirit.  I  believe  our  system  of  government  to  be  the 
wisest  and  our  institutions  the  happiest  which  the 
world  ever  saw ;  and  regarding  as  I  do  the  happiness 
of  my  race,  I  hope  they  will  spread  throughout  man- 
kind; but  let  them  spread  by  their  own  inherent 
moral  power,  until  the  happiness  they  produce  shall 
create  a  spectacle  for  the  world  to  see  and  to  admire. 
Let  this  be  the  triumph  of  my  country.  I  desire  her 
to  realize  the  prophetic  description  of  Archbishop 
Cranmer: 

"  Wherever  the  bright  sun  of  heaven  shall  shine, 
Her  honor  and  the  greatness  of  her  name 
Shall  be,  and  make  new  nations  ;  she  shall  flourish, 
And,  like  a  mountain  cedar,  reach  her  branches 
To  all  the  plains  about  her  ; 
Our  children's  children  shall  see  this, 
And  bless  Heaven.'" 

Peaceful  triumphs  alone  are  those  which  I  seek — 
the  benign  virtues  of  reason  and  truth.  These  I  de- 
sire, and  none  other.  If,  however,  while  pursuing 
such  a  policy — a  policy  wise,  vigorous,  but  concilia- 
tory, war  should  come  upon  us,  I  trust  the  country 
will  be  prepared  to  meet  it.  If  it  should  come  upon 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  69 

us  as  the  result  of  a  moderate  but  firm  assertion  of 
our  national  rights,  the  response  in  every  American 
bosom  must  be,  "Let  it  come."  The  venerable  gen- 
tleman from  Massachusetts  near  me  (Mr.  Adams),  in 
tones  which  rang  on  my  heart  like  a  trumpet,  remind- 
ed me  of  the  days  of  our  revolutionary  glory.  The 
old  fire  which  blazed  so  brightly  in  that  ever-memo- 
rable struggle  seemed  to  be  flashing  up  within  him, 
and,  while  I  listened  to  his  patriotic  strains,  I  felt 
assured  that  in  such  a  cause  we  should  all  act  as  one 
man.  If  we  should  go  into  the  war  in  this  spirit,  I 
should  feel  little  anxiety  as  to  how  we  should  come 
out  of  it.  The  power  of  England  is  fast  culminating 
to  its  highest  point.  It  must  soon  reach  that  climax 
in  the  history  of  nations  from  which  they  have,  one 
after  another,  commenced  their  decline,  and  she  ought 
not  to  enter  into  a  contest  with  a  great  power.  If 
wise  counsels  prevail,  she  will  not.  Yet,  if  she  should 
be  so  irrational,  on  the  ground  of  such  a  controversy 
as  that  of  Oregon,  to  rush  into  such  a  contest,  I  trust 
that  she  will  be  driven  back  from  these  shores  shorn 
of  her  splendor  ;  and  she  may  be  very  sure  that  when 
this  happens  it  will  prove  no  temporary  eclipse,  but 
will  endure  for  all  time  to  come,  and  she  will  be  left 
a  portent  in  the  political  heavens, 

"  Shedding  disastrous  twilight  over  half  the  nations." 

I  know  her  power — I  know  the  multitude  of  her 
fleets — I  know  the  bravery  and  discipline  of  her  ar- 
mies ;  but,  in  a  war  thus  brought  upon  us,  we  ought 
not  to  waste  a  moment  in  looking  at  these.  We 
ought  to  feel  confident  in  our  position,  confident  in 
our  resources,  confident  in  the  patriotism  of  our  peo- 


70  THE   OREGON    QUESTION. 

pie,  and,  above  all,  confident  in  the  blessing  of  the 
great  Ruler  of  nations.  With  these,  and  with  a  just 
cause,  I  feel  that  this  country  is  able  to  resist  any 
attack,  and  I  am  confident  that  we  should  be  good 
against  a  world  in  arms. 

But  I  am  admonished  by  the  clock  that  I  must 
hasten  to  some  other  topics  which  yet  remain. 

I  now  invite  gentlemen  to  turn  their  attention  for 
a  moment  to  the  importance  of  Oregon,  for  I  believe 
that  its  intrinsic  importance  has  been  overlooked  or 
much  undervalued.  And,  first,  looking  at  it  in  a  po- 
litical view,  it  must  be  admitted  to  be  of  great  value 
to  us.  England  has  a  frontier  to  the  north  of  us 
extending  three  thousand  miles,  and  stretching  en- 
tirely across  the  continent.  If  we  permit  her  to  come 
from  that  line  some  five  hundred  miles  down  the  coast 
of  the  Pacific,  we  shall  give  her  the  opportunity  of 
filling  up  the  only  break  which  now  exists  in  that  line 
of  continuous  fortification  with  which  her  energy  and 
vast  resources  have  encompassed  the  globe.  Why  is 
it  that  she  presses  with  so  much  earnestness  and  per- 
tinacity for  a  strip  of  land  along  our  western  borders? 
Is  it  the  soil?  Is  it  the  trade?  No.  She  could 
enjoy  the  trade  if  the  territory  was  ours  ;  and  it  cer- 
tainly would  be,  in  that  view,  better  to  resign  a  strip 
of  territory  than  to  lose  a  good  neighbor.  These, 
however,  are  not  the  considerations  which  make  her 
so  anxious  and  so  persevering.  It  is  the  political 
value  of  the  territory,  which,  with  her  accustomed  sa- 
gacity, she  sees  and  appreciates.  Statesmen  ought 
not  to  bound  their  view  by  things  which  are  at  the 
moment  within  the  range  of  their  eyes.  They  ought 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  71 

to  lift  their  vision  until  it  embraces  the  broad  field 
which  belongs  to  the  future  also.  This  the  British 
statesmen  are  in  the  habit  of  doing ;  and  we,  if  we 
are  wise,  will  follow  their  example.  Before  we  count 
the  value  of  Oregon,  we  must  look  across  the  Pacific, 
and  estimate  that  trade  with  China  and  the  Eastern 
Archipelago  which  is  soon  to  open  upon  us  in  all  its 
riches,  grandeur,  and  magnificence.  As  things  now 
exist,  our  vessels,  returning  from  the  ports  of  Eastern 
Asia,  have,  as  it  were,  to  run  the  gauntlet  through  a 
long  line  of  British  naval  posts,  from  which  they  are 
exposed  to  attack.  Her  numerous  naval  stations 
enable  her  to  keep  her  fleets  in  every  sea,  and  how- 
ever widely-spread  this  Eastern  commerce  may  be,  and 
however  inestimable  its  value,  it  is  subject  in  a  mo- 
ment to  be  arrested.  But  if  we  establish  our  posts 
and  plant  our  settlements  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific, 
our  commerce  will  float  in  comparative  safety  over 
the  tranquil  bosom  of  that  wide-spread  ocean.  Sure- 
ly, in  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  would  be  poor  policy 
in  us  to  yield  what  is  essential  to  the  prosperity  of 
our  commerce  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

Again,  I  regard  this  controversy  respecting  Oregon 
as  a  national  question  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
term.  I  differed  from  some  of  my  Whig  friends  re- 
specting the  annexation  of  Texas,  for  I  viewed  it,  as 
I  view  this,  as  a  national  question.  In  adopting  my 
conclusions,  and  in  conforming  to  them  my  course  of 
action  in  relation  to  that  important  subject,  I  was  not 
conscious  of  one  particle  of  selfish  feeling.  What  I 
did  I  did  for  my  country,  for  the  whole  country,  for 
the  welfare  and  aggrandizement  of  this  nation.  I 


72  THE    OREGON    QUESTION. 

was  in  Europe  when  that  question  was  first  agitated, 
and  witnessed  the  jealousies  of  European  cabinets  in 
regard  to  it,  and  their  intrigues  and  combinations  to 
defeat  the  annexation,  and  I  felt  my  American  blood 
roused  at  the  spectacle.  I  look  on  Oregon  in  just 
the  same  way ;  with  us  it  is  no  Northern,  no  South- 
ern question.  I  have  come  up  here  as  a  national 
representative.  True,  I  can  not  wholly  divest  myself 
of  feelings  which  were  born  with  me,  and  of  early 
memories  which  nothing  can  efface ;  but,  God  help- 
ing me,  I  intend  to  do  strict  and  equal  justice  to  all. 
In  my  course  in  this  hall,  I  shall  look  alone  to 
the  national  aggrandizement  and  the  national  glory ; 
and  I  know  well  that  in  such  a  course  the  people  I 
represent  will  sustain  me.  I  have  not  been  long 
enough  their  representative  to  say,  with  John  Ran- 
dolph, that  no  man  ever  had  such  constituents ;  but 
I  have  lived  among  them,  and  know  them,  and  I 
know  they  will  sustain  me.  I  shall  enter  into  no 
movement  of  a  merely  party  character,  nor  shall  I 
be  found  entering  into  a  combination  to  elevate  or 
to  depress  any  section  of  the  country  at  the  expense 
of  another.  My  political  career  may  be  short,  and 
the  accomplishment  may  fall  far  short  of  the  purpose, 
but  the  conception  of  duty,  at  least,  shall  be  glorious ; 
and  if  an  earnest  effort  to  come  up  to  it  constitutes 
glory,  then  my  career,  long  or  short,  shall  be  glorious. 
Gentlemen  have  spoken  of  the  policy  of  President 
Monroe,  who  declared  to  the  nations  of  the  Old  World 
that  they  would  not  be  tolerated  in  any  interference 
with  the  balance  of  power  on  this  continent,  and  that 
they  must  establish  no  more  colonies  on  our  shores. 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  73 

I  am  in  favor  of  this  policy,  so  far  as  it  can  with 
justice  be  carried  out.  Where  European  nations  have 
already  possessions  on  this  continent,  they  should  be 
suffered  to  hold  them  without  molestation ;  but  we 
may  well  oppose  their  planting  new  colonies  in  this 
our  western  world.  The  honor  of  this  sentiment, 
however,  it  is  but  fair  to  say,  belongs,  justly,  as  much 
to  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Adams) 
as  it  does  to  Mr.  Monroe ;  for,  although  the  latter 
was  the  chief  magistrate,  the  former  was  at  the  same 
time  Secretary  of  State,  and  if  he  did  not  suggest,  he 
certainly  sanctioned  the  policy.  The  present  execu- 
tive maintains  the  same  doctrine,  and,  I  doubt  not, 
the  whole  country  will  heartily  come  into  it. 

I  have  some  facts  bearing  upon  the  commercial 
value  of  Oregon  to  us  which  I  deem  of  the  first  mo- 
ment. England  and  the  United  States  are  the  only 
competitors  for  the  trade  of  southern  China ;  the 
trade  of  the  northern  portion  of  China  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  Russians,  and  is  mainly  conducted  at  an  annual 
fair  held  at  Kiachta,  lasting  for  about  two  months, 
at  which  the  traders  of  the  two  nations  assemble  and 
carry  on  their  commercial  transactions ;  but  south 
China  is  in  the  hands  of  England  and  this  country, 
who  are  competitors  for  the  profits  of  the  trade.  En- 
gland imports  every  year  four  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand chests  of  tea,  while  we  import  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, besides  muslins  and  silks,  and  other  commod- 
ities of  great  value. 

In  this  gainful  traffic  England  regards  us  a  rival 
power,  and  she  is  by  no  means  disposed  to  give  it  up. 
The  coast  of  Oregon  fronts  that  of  China,  and  pre- 


74  THE    OREGON    QUESTION. 

sents  great  facilities  for  carrying  on  this  important 
branch  of  our  commerce.  Fully  to  avail  ourselves, 
however,  of  these  advantages,  we  ought  to  connect 
Oregon  with  the  State  of  Missouri  by  the  construc- 
tion of  a  rail-road.  This  is  not  so  wild  and  visionary 
a  scheme  as  at  the  first  view  some  gentlemen  may  be 
disposed  to  consider  it. 

Let  them  reflect  that  it  is  but  about  fifteen  years 
since  Mr.  Huskisson  lost  his  life  in  an  experimental 
trip  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  over  the  first 
rail-road  ever  constructed  in  England.  And  what  is 
she  doing  in  that  system  now?  And  then  look  on 
the  Continent,  and  see  already  completed  a  large  part 
of  one  continuous  line  of  rail-road,  which  is  to  stretch 
out  twenty-seven  hundred  miles,  entirely  across  Eu- 
rope, from  Odessa  to  Bremen,  while  another  line  will 
presently  extend  from  the  Adriatic  for  near  a  thou- 
sand miles.  And  yet  some  gentlemen  stand  and  look 
aghast  when  any  one  speaks  of  a  rail-road  across  our 
continent,  as  if  it  were  something  wondrous  and  alto- 
gether unheard  of  before.  Should  such  a  road  be  con- 
structed, it  will  become  the  great  highway  of  the 
world ;  we  shall,  before  long,  monopolize  the  trade  of 
the  eastern  coasts  of  Asia.  At  present,  it  is  stated 
that  the  shortest  possible  voyage  from  London  to 
Canton  occupies  seventy  days ;  but  it  is  estimated, 
over  such  a  rail-road,  a  traveler  might  pass  from  Lon- 
don to  Canton  in  forty  days.  There  is  no  wildness, 
no  extravagance  in  the  idea,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  so- 
ber sense  and  plain  calculation.  What  a  magnificent 
idea  does  it  present  to  the  mind,  and  who  can  calcu- 
late the  results  to  which  it  will  lead !  With  a  route 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  75 

so  short  and  so  direct  as  this,  might  we  not  reason- 
ably hope  to  command  both  the  trade  and  the  travel 
of  the  world  ?  Ingrafted  on  this  plan,  and  as  its  nat- 
ural adjunct,  is  the  extension  of  a  magnetic  telegraph, 
which  will  follow  the  course  of  the  road ;  unite  these 
two,  and  where  is  the  imagination  which  can  grasp 
the  consequences !  Whale-ships,  returning  from  their 
long  and  hazardous  voyages,  might  touch  upon  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  instantly  transmit  across  the  con- 
tinent tidings  of  their  safety  and  their  success. 

In  either  of  the  views  which  I  have  presented,  it 
is  impossible  that  the  importance  of  Oregon  can  be 
overlooked.  I  trust  that  these  great  results  will  be 
realized,  and  I  hope  at  no  distant  day  to  see  a  mail 
line  established  across  the  continent.  England  has 
very  recently  been  engaged  in  an  experiment  in  as- 
certaining the  shortest  overland  route  across  the  Con- 
tinent to  the  East  Indies,  and  I  believe  the  Oriental 
Steam  Company  has  determined  on  that  through 
Germany,  by  Trieste ;  but  if  we  construct  this  rail- 
road, she  will  then  be  dependent  on  us  for  the  short- 
est and  most  expeditious,  as  well  as  the  safest  route 
to  China  and  her  East  India  possessions.  Is  not  the 
language  of  Berkeley  in  the  progress  of  fulfillment 
when  he  wrote  that  immortal  line, 

"Westward  the  star  of  empire  takes  its  wayl" 

When  Oregon  shall  be  in  our  possession,  when  we 
shall  have  established  a  profitable  trade  with  China 
through  her  ports,  when  our  ships  traverse  the  Pacific 
as  they  now  cross  the  Atlantic,  and  all  the  countless 
consequences  of  such  a  state  of  things  begin  to  flow 
in  upon  us,  then  will  be  fulfilled  that  vision  which 


76  THE   OREGON    QUESTION. 

rapt  and  filled  the  mind  of  Nunez  as  he  gazed  over 
the  placid  waves  of  the  Pacific. 

I  will  now  address  myself  for  a  moment  to  the  mor- 
al aspect  of  this  great  question.  Gentlemen  have 
talked  much  and  eloquently  about  the  horrors  of  war. 
I  should  regret  the  necessity  of  a  war ;  I  should  de- 
plore its  dreadful  scenes ;  but  if  the  possession  of  Or- 
egon gives  us  a  territory  opening  upon  the  nation 
prospects  such  as  I  now  describe,  and  if,  for  the  sim- 
ple exercise  of  our  rights  in  regard  to  it,  Great  Brit- 
ain should  wage  upon  us  an  unjust  war,  the  regret 
which  every  one  must  feel  will  at  least  have  much  to 
counterbalance  it.  One  of  England's  own  writers 
has  said,  "The  possible  destiny  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  as  a  nation  of  one  hundred  millions  of 
freemen,  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
living  under  the  laws  of  Alfred,  and  speaking  the 
language  of  Shakspeare  and  Milton,  is  an  august  con- 
ception." 

It  is  an  august  conception,  finely  embodied ;  and  I 
trust  in  God  that  it  will,  at  no  distant  time,  become 
a  reality.  I  trust  that  the  world  will  see,  through  all 
time,  our  people  living  not  only  under  the  laws  of 
Alfred,  but  that  they  will  be  heard  to  speak  through- 
out our  wide-spread  borders  the  language  of  Shaks- 
peare and  Milton.  Above  all  is  it  my  prayer  that, 
as  long  as  our  posterity  shall  continue  to  inhabit  these 
mountains  and  plains,  and  hills  and  valleys,  they  may 
be  found  living  under  the  sacred  institutions  of  Chris- 
tianity. Put  these  things  together,  and  what  a  pic- 
ture do  they  present  to  the  mental  eye !  Civilization 
and  intelligence  started  in  the  East ;  they  have  trav- 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  77 

eled  and  are  still  traveling  westward ;  but  when  they 
shall  have  completed  the  circuit  of  the  earth,  and 
reached  the  extremest  verge  of  the  Pacific  shores, 
then,  unlike  the  fabled  god  of  the  ancients,  who  dip- 
ped his  glowing  axle  in  the  western  wave,  they  will 
there  take  up  their  permanent  abode ;  then  shall  we 
enjoy  the  sublime  destiny  of  returning  these  blessings 
to  their  ancient  seat ;  then  will  it  be  ours  to  give  the 
priceless  benefits  of  our  free  institutions,  and  the  pure 
and  healthful  light  of  the  Gospel,  back  to  the  dark 
family  which  has  so  long  lost  both  truth  and  freedom ; 
then  may  Christianity  plant  herself  there,  and  while 
with  one  hand  she  points  to  the  Polynesian  Isles,  re- 
joicing in  the  late  recovered  treasure  of  revealed  truth, 
with  the  other  present  the  Bible  to  the  Chinese.  It 
is  our  duty  to  aid  in  this  great  work.  I  trust  we 
shall  esteem  it  as  much  our  honor  as  our  duty.  Let 
us  not,  like  some  of  the  British  missionaries,  give 
them  the  Bible  in  one  hand  and  opium  in  the  other, 
but  bless  them  only  with  the  pure  word  of  truth.  I 
hope  the  day  is  not  distant — soon,  soon  may  its  dawn 
arise — to  shed  upon  the  farthest  and  the  most  be- 
nighted of  nations  the  splendor  of  more  than  a  trop- 
ical sun. 


Mr.  Hilliard  closed  by  offering  an  amendment  such 
as  he  had  indicated  in  the  course  of  his  remarks. 


PAY   OF   TROOPS   TO   BE   EMPLOYED 
AGAINST  MEXICO. 

A  SPEECH   DELIVERED   IN   THE   HOUSE    OF   REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE 
UNITED  STATES,  JULY  16th,  1846. 

MR.  SPEAKER, — We  are  at  war  with  Mexico,  and  I 
rise  to  speak  of  that  war  freely.  It  is  not  my  inten- 
tion to  discuss  the  origin  of  that  war,  but  I  wish  to 
give  my  views  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it  should 
be  conducted,  and  to  state  the  objects  which  ought  to 
be  secured  by  carrying  it  on  successfully.  This  is 
not  the  time  to  investigate  the  causes  which  led  to 
the  war,  but  it  is  all-important  that  we  should  com- 
prehend the  responsibility  that  rests  upon  us,  and  see 
clearly  the  results  of  the  contest.  I  believe,  sir,  it  is 
understood  on  all  sides  that  there  are  three  questions 
affecting  our  relations  with  Mexico,  and  which  must 
be  settled  before  our  troops  are  recalled:  the  debts 
acknowledged  to  be  due  to  our  citizens,  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  by  our  government,  and  the  boundary 
line  between  the  two  republics.  All  these  are  sub- 
jects of  dispute,  and  they  must  be  disposed  of  before 
peace  is  restored. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  causes  of  difference,  it  is 
undoubtedly  our  right  and  our  duty  to  enforce  the 
payment  of  debts  acknowledged  to  be  just,  and  so  long 
withheld;  but  this  alone  would  not  have  disturbed 
the  peace  between  the  two  countries.  We  should 
have  endeavored  to  bring  Mexico  to  a  settlement  of 


PAY   OF   TROOPS   EMPLOYED   AGAINST   MEXICO.         79 

these  claims,  without  resorting  to  arms  to  enforce 
them ;  but,  as  we  are  now  at  war,  all  causes  of  disa- 
greement must  be  removed,  and  the  debts  must  be 
paid 

As  to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  right  of  the 
United  States  to  undertake  and  accomplish  that 
measure  is  too  clear  to  be  questioned;  nor  can  we 
permit  Mexico,  or  any  other  power,  to  interfere  with 
or  to  dispute  that  right.  Our  self-respect  and  our 
obligations  to  Texas  alike  forbid  it. 

Texas  has  already  been  acknowledged  to  be  an  in- 
dependent state  by  England,  by  France,  by  Holland, 
and  by  our  own  government;  Mexico  could  not,  there- 
fore, rightfully  complain  of  the  United  States  for  the 
act  of  annexation.  Admitting  Texas  to  be  independ- 
ent for  one  purpose  is  to  admit  her  to  be  independent 
for  all  purposes.  There  can  be  no  qualified  political 
independence;  the  very  term  independence  implies 
perfect  freedom  from  allegiance  to  any  other  power. 

The  truth  is,  sir,  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  a 
natural,  proper,  and  inevitable  result,  growing  out  of 
the  sympathies,  the  kindred  blood,  and  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  two  countries.  Long  before  the  event 
occurred,  it  was  clearly  foreseen  that  it  would  take 
place. 

When  that  great  political  question  was  under  dis- 
cussion, I  was  in  Europe.  I  had  the  honor,  at  that 
time,  to  represent  our  government  at  the  court  of 
Brussels,  and  in  an  official  interview  with  Count 
Goblet  DAlviella,  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
I  distinctly  announced  to  him  that  the  annexation 
would  take  place  some  time  before  it  occurred. 


80        PAY   OF   TROOPS    EMPLOYED   AGAINST   MEXICO. 

The  whole  resources  of  the  Mexican  republic,  aid- 
ed by  European  powers  hostile  to  it,  could  not  have 
prevented  it.  Mexico  felt  that  her  power  over  Tex- 
as was  gone;  and  I  learned,  in  that  interview  to 
which  I  have  just  referred,  that  she  was  hostile  to  the 
measure  of  annexation,  not  because  she  had  any  hope 
of  reducing  that  state  again  into  obedience  to  her  au- 
thority, but  it  was  her  wish  to  interpose  a  feeble  in- 
dependent republic  between  her  borders  and  our  own. 
She  desired  to  establish  a  barrier  which  might  shut 
out  the  popular  surges  of  this  great  country,  lest  they 
should  submerge  her;  and  she  was  actually  prepared 
to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  Texas,  provided 
that  republic  would  stipulate  never  to  become  an- 
nexed to  the  United  States.  While  I  thus  state  my 
opinion  with  so  much  freedom  in  favor  of  the  right 
of  our  government  to  acquire  Texas,  I  do  not  hesi- 
tate, at  the  same  time,  to  say  that  it  would  have  been 
wiser  to  have  eifected  that  great  measure  by  treaty, 
and  to  have  conciliated  Mexico,  than  to  have  precip- 
itated the  question  and  plunged  the  country  into  war. 
It  is  impossible  to  deny  to  Mr.  Clay  the  tribute  of 
our  unqualified  admiration  when  we  regard  his  course 
upon  this  question;  he  saw  the  direction  which  the 
popular  current  was  taking,  but  with  true  courage  he 
resisted  and  attempted  to  control  it.  He  desired  to 
avoid  war  with  a  neighboring  government  professing 
to  be  republican,  and  he  would  have  treated  a  people 
too  feeble  to  resist  us  with  forbearance  and  consider- 
ation. If  he  had  been  elected  to  the  Presidency, 
Texas  would  have  been  annexed,  and  it  would  have 
been  accomplished  without  shedding  a  drop  of  blood. 


PAY    OF    TROOPS    EMPLOYED   AGAINST   MEXICO.         81 

But,  sir,  we  are  at  war;  we  can  not  permit  Mexico 
to  question  our  right  to  annex  Texas,  and  peace  can 
not  be  restored  between  the  two  countries  until  this 
question  is  forever  settled. 

As  to  the  western  boundary  of  Texas,  it  is  not  my 
intention  to  discuss  that  question  at  this  time ;  it  is 
not  before  this  forum ;  it  will  be  settled  by  negotia- 
tion with  Mexico,  and  it  is  not  my  desire  to  embar- 
rass it  by  calling  upon  this  House  for  an  expression 
of  opinion  in  regard  to  it. 

These,  then,  are  the  objects'  to  be  attained  in  this 
war.  Let  us  keep  them  steadily  in  view ;  there  is 
great  danger  lest  we  lose  sight  of  them. 

As  to  the  manner  in  which  the  war  should  be  con- 
ducted, it  seems  to  me  that  it  ought  to  be  pressed 
with  vigor ;  that  a  powerful  army  should  be  sent  into 
the  field,  and  that  every  thing  should  be  done  which 
can  be  done  to  subdue  Mexico  speedily,  and  to  com- 
pel her  to  submit  to  just  and  reasonable  terms  as  the 
basis  of  peace.  A  protracted  war  is  to  be  dreaded ; 
it  would  engender  a  spirit  of  conquest,  and,  losing 
sight  of  the  legitimate  objects  which  are  now  before 
us,  we  might  seek  to  overrun  and  hold  Mexico  in 
perpetual  subjection. 

The  war  ought  to  be  conducted  with  humanity,  but 
in  this  instance  vigor  and  humanity  are  identical. 

When  Mexico  submits  to  our  arms,  we  must  not 
insist  upon  hard  terms  in  negotiating  a  treaty  of 
peace ;  a  powerful  and  great  nation  may  well  afford 
to  be  generous  and  magnanimous.  "We  must  have  a 
speedy  peace,  or  the  lust  of  conquest,  rising  beyond 
our  control,  will  impel  us  to  carry  our  victorious 

F 


82        PAY   OF   TROOPS    EMPLOYED   AGAINST   MEXICO. 

arms  over  all  Mexico,  and  the  nation  will  feel  what 
Macbeth  felt  when  he  exclaimed, 

"  I  am  in  blood  steep'd  now  so  far, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er." 

In  concluding  a  negotiation  with  Mexico,  we  may 
find  it  necessary  to  take  a  part  of  her  territory  in 
payment  of  our  just  claims  against  her.  It  is  very 
desirable  to  acquire  California,  and  seat  our  power 
on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific ;  but  it  must  be  freely 
offered  to  us,  in  payment  of  debts  due  to  us,  or  we 
must  pay  liberally  for  it.  It  must  not  be  torn  away 
from  a  feeble  republic  as  a  conquered  province. 

I  feel  a  strong  desire  to  see  our  institutions  estab- 
lished upon  that  distant  coast,  confronting,  as  it  does, 
a  benighted  nation  long  sunk  in  barbarism,  but  teem- 
ing with  all  the  elements  of  civilization,  and  which, 
when  roused  and  attracted  by  the  energy  and  enter- 
prise of  our  population,  will  seek  our  shores,  and  thus 
bring  the  New  World  in  contact  with  the  Old  in  a 
realm  where  they  never  met  before. 

We  need  feel  no  apprehension  as  to  this  extension 
of  our  territorial  possessions;  the  structure  of  our 
government  will  enable  it  to  embrace  the  widest  em- 
pire. Like  the  fabled  tent  in  the  Arabian  Nights, 
its  dimensions  may  be  extended  at  pleasure.  It  will 
cover  a  small  or  a  great  people ;  expansion  will  not 
impair  its  strength. 

These,  sir,  are  my  views  of  the  war,  very  briefly  but 
very  frankly  stated.  It  is  impossible  to  overlook  the 
advantages  which  may  be  derived  from  the  contest  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  but  we  must  never  forget  what 
is  due  to  ourselves  as  a  Christian  people ;  we  must 


PAY    OF   TROOPS    EMPLOYED    AGAINST   MEXICO.         83 

never  forget  what  is  due  to  the  cause  of  mankind, 
nor  must  we  overlook  what  is  due  to  a  feeble  repub- 
lic. The  first  movement  on  the  part  of  Mexico  to- 
ward the  restoration  of  peace  must  be  met  by  us 
promptly  and  generously. 

Every  consideration  demands  this  from  us.  It  is 
far  more  important  to  preserve  the  principles  of  a 
free  government  than  to  acquire  any  territory,  how- 
ever extensive  or  however  desirable  it  may  be. 

I  shall  vote  for  this  bill  making  appropriations  for 
the  support  of  the  troops  engaged  in  the  war  with 
Mexico.  I  am  for  granting  the  largest  supplies  which 
the  contest  demands.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of 
peace  or  war ;  we  are  already  engaged  in  the  conflict, 
and  the  arms  of  the  country  must  be  sustained  until 
an  honorable  peace  can  be  secured. 


THE  WAK  WITH  MEXICO. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  JANUARY  5th,  1847. 

The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union,  and 
having  under  consideration  the  bill  to  raise,  for  a  limited  time,  an  additional  mil- 
itary force,  and  for  other  purposes,  Mr.  Hilliard  rose  and  said : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN, — The  debate  which,  arose  upon  re- 
ferring the  President's  message  to  the  several  com- 
mittees took  so  wide  a  range  that  I  forbore  to  take 
any  part  in  it,  but  preferred  to  wait  until  some  prac- 
tical question  should  come  up  which  would  afford  bet- 
ter ground  for  what  I  desire  to  say.  Such  a  ques- 
tion is  now  before  us,  and  it  involves  the  same  topics. 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  complaining  of  the 
spirited  and  interesting  debate  which  has  already  ta- 
ken place ;  I  only  regret  the  asperities  which,  in  too 
many  instances,  have  marked  it  on  both  sides.  In 
all  constitutional  governments  where  the  represent- 
ative principle  is  recognized,  great  latitude  of  debate 
must  be  allowed.  The  spirit  of  liberty  will  make  it- 
self heard  wherever  it  exists.  It  spoke  out  in  the 
stormy  debates  of  the  ancient  republics,  and  it  has 
often  shaken  the  throne  and  arrested  kingly  power 
in  England.  In  the  language  of  Burke,  "  Something 
must  be  pardoned  to  the  spirit  of  liberty."  The 
course  of  executive  power  must  be  boldly  surveyed ; 
it  ought  to  be.  Even  in  royal  governments,  where 
it  is  usual  for  the  monarch  in  person  to  address  the 
legislative  bodies,  it  is  customary,  in  discussing  the 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  85 

reply  ta  the  speech  from  the  throne,  for  the  widest 
latitude  of  debate  to  be  indulged  in,  and  the  utmost 
freedom  of  remark  is  permitted  without  complaint. 
In  England,  especially,  the  reply  of  Parliament  to  the 
royal  speech  usually  manifests  the  highest  degree  of 
jealousy  on  the  part  of  that  body  for  the  rights  of 
Englishmen.  And  shall  we,  who  profess  to  have  yet 
larger  views  of  public  liberty,  attempt  to  restrain  the 
utmost  latitude  of  remark  on  the  course  of  those  in- 
trusted with  power?  Certainly  not.  Previous  to 
Mr.  Jefferson's  time,  the  American  presidents  came 
to  Congress  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  and  ad- 
dressed both  Houses  in  person.  It  was  usual,  too, 
for  each  House  to  reply  to  the  speech  of  the  Presi- 
dent; and  this  afforded  the  opportunity  of  discuss- 
ing with  freedom  the  executive  measures.  At  the 
opening  of  the  session  of  Congress  in  1801,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son adopted,  as  most  convenient,  the  practice  of  send- 
ing a  message  to  the  two  houses ;  and  although  this 
form  of  executive  communication  made  a  reply  un- 
necessary, yet  we  are  informed  by  the  parliamentary 
history  of  the  period  that  a  very  animated  debate 
took  place  on  the  topics  it  contained.  I  trust  the 
day  will  never  come  when,  in  this  government,  such 
freedom  will  be  denied.  A  French  king  once  said, 
UI  am  the  State,"  but  a  President  of  the  United 
States  can  use  no  such  language.  He  occupies,  it  is 
true,  an  elevated  and  very  influential  position  in  the 
government,  but  the  severest  examination  of  his 
course  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions,  in  whatever  di- 
rection they  may  be  put  forth,  is  consistent  with  the 
purest  patriotism. 


86  THE    WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

While,  then,  sir,  I  claim  for  myself,  and  for  other 
gentlemen  of  this  House,  the  privilege  of  discussing 
executive  communications  with  the  greatest  freedom, 
it  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  at  large  upon  an  exam- 
ination of  the  message  which  the  President  has  lately 
sent  to  Congress.  There  are,  however,  some  subjects 
which  it  brings  before  us  of  such  magnitude,  and 
which  must  so  largely  affect  the  character  and  happi- 
ness of  the  country,  that  I  can  not  consent  to  let 
them  pass  without  giving  my  views  of  them.  We 
have  reached  an  important  point  in  our  history.  We 
are  at  war.  For  once,  I  believe  in  the  existence  of  a 
crisis.  It  is  not  that  there  is  any  thing  portentous 
in  the  elements  which  surround  us ;  the  nation  with 
which  we  are  at  war  is  a  feeble  one,  and  we  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  her  arms.  But  a  question  which 
was  started  at  the  close  of  the  last  session,  and  which 
has  already  been  revived  since  the  commencement  of 
the  present  one,  is  sufficiently  ominous.*  Like  a  sea- 
bird  driven  far  inland,  it  may  be  a  messenger  which 
gives  notice  of  the  coming  tempest.  This  question 
grows  out  of  the  great  topic  presented  in  the  message, 
the  war ;  and  it  is  here,  in  this  hall,  where  we  have 
heard  some  extraordinary  declarations  made  in  con- 
nection with  it,  that  I  desire  to  speak  of  it.  I  do 
not  wish  to  precipitate  this  great  question ;  it  ought 
not  to  have  been  brought  here ;  but,  as  it  is  here,  it 
must  be  met.  This  hall  should  not  be  converted 
into  an  arena  for  hot  controversy,  by  bringing  for 
discussion  here  a  subject  which  does  not  fairly  come 

*  The  Hon.  Mr.  Wilmot's  resolution  as  to  slavery,  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Preston 
King's  bill  and  speech  on  the  same  subject. 


THE    WAR    WITH    MEXICO.  87 

within  the  range  of  our  deliberations,  and  which  must 
shake,  not  only  this  Capitol,  but  this  republic. 

But,  first,  as  to  the  war.  This  is  the  great  theme 
of  the  message — the  prominent  colossal  figure  in  the 
foreground  of  the  picture,  about  which  the  other  ob- 
jects are  grouped  in  humbler  and  smaller  proportions. 
I  suppose  it  must  be  so ;  our  foreign  relations,  with 
the  single  unhappy  exception  referred  to,  are  all  of 
the  most  amicable  kind ;  our  internal  tranquillity  is 
perfect ;  the  vast  resources  of  our  country  are  in  a 
course  of  prosperous  development.  There  is  but  the 
one  check  to  our  prosperity ;  but  for  this,  the  Presi- 
dent informs  us,  the  public  debt  would  have  been  dis- 
charged, and  we  might  now  have  been  engaged  in 
plans  for  increasing  the  happiness  of  our  people,  and 
advancing  in  our  high  career  of  civilization.  But, 
though  it  must  be  admitted  that  war  is  a  calamity, 
yet  I  can  not  bring  myself  to  agree  with  those  who 
think  it  best  to  arrest  all  our  movements  against 
Mexico.  I  concur  in  opinion  with  a  distinguished 
senator  from  Delaware  (Mr.  J.  M.  Clayton),  who 
some  days  since  took  occasion  to  say  that  he  was  de- 
cidedly in  favor  of  sustaining  the  government  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  My  honorable  friend  from 
Philadelphia  (Mr.  J.  R.  Ingersoll)  has  avowed  the 
same  determination.  I  do '  not  see  that  any  other 
course  is  left  us.  The  question  is  not  now  whether 
we  shall  plunge  into  a  war  or  not ;  the  question  is, 
a  war  having  been  commenced,  shall  we  sustain  it, 
or  shall  we  let  it  go  down?  Shall  we  infuse  new 
vigor  into  the  war  by  voting  the  men  and  the  money 
asked  for,  or  shall  we  withdraw  all  support  from  the 


88  THE   WAR  WITH   MEXICO. 

war,  and  arrest  it  before  it  has  accomplished  its  ob- 
jects ? 

If  the  question  were  now  presented  to  me  between 
peace  and  war,  I  should  undoubtedly  be  in  favor  of 
peace.  But  no  such  election  is  presented  to  us.  The 
spectacle  before  us  is  a  war  in  progress,  our  own  coun- 
try on  one  side,  a  foreign  country  on  the  other ;  our 
own  country,  at  every  step  which  our  armies  take, 
holding  forth  an  offer  of  peace — an  offer  which  the 
enemy,  as  yet,  have  shown  no  disposition  to  entertain. 
This  is  enough  for  me.  I  range  myself  on  that  side 
on  which  I  see  the  standard  of  my  country.  Over 
the  troops  now  in  Mexico  floats  the  same  standard 
which  was  borne  through  the  storms  of  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  it  was  often  dimmed  with  the  smoke  of  battle ; 
hostile  bayonets  bristled  about  it,  and  sometimes  seem- 
ed to  surround  and  overbear  it ;  but  it  emerged  from 
that  long  and  fierce  conflict  covered  with  the  light  of 
victory.  Who  is  willing  to  see  that  banner  giving 
back  before  the  enemy,  or  trailing  in  the  dust  ?  "Who 
does  not  desire  that  it  may  be  borne  in  triumph  on 
whatever  breeze  it  may  be  flung  ?  I  am  sure  that  ev- 
ery gentleman  here  exults  in  its  triumphs. 

The  fleets  which  now  blockade  the  ports  and  cruise 
along  the  coasts  of  Mexico  bear  the  same  glorious 
flag  that  streamed  from  the  mast-head  of  the  CONSTI- 
TUTION when  she  carried  the  thunder  of  our  arms  to 
distant  seas,  and  spread  dismay  among  the  enemies 
of  our  rising  commerce ;  or,  guarding  the  line  of  our 
own  coast  from  the  ravages  of  a  formidable  foe,  rush- 
ed down  triumphantly  upon  her  prey.  So  long  as 
that  flag  is  flying,  no  matter  under  what  sky,  Amer- 


THE    WAR    WITH    MEXICO.  89 

ican  hearts  will  mourn  over  its  reverses,  and  rejoice 
in  its  triumphs. 

The  question  before  Congress  is,  "Shall  we  pros- 
ecute this  war  T  On  that  question  I  can  not  hesitate 
for  a  moment.  The  Constitution  has  conferred  on 
Congress  the  prerogative  of  declaring  war.  "We  have 
recognized  the  war,  and  by  that  vote  we  have  made 
the  chief  magistrate  responsible  for  the  mode  of  con- 
ducting it.  So  long  as  the  President  is  thus  respons- 
ible, by  the  theory  of  our  government  he  is  charged 
with  the  conduct  of  the  war.  He  is  invested  with 
all  the  authority  which  belongs  to  that  important 
station.  It  is  for  us  to  say  how  far  we  will  go  in 
voting  supplies ;  and  it  must  be  a  great  crisis — one 
such  as  I  have  never  yet  seen,  and  which  has  never 
occurred  in  our  history,  which  would  warrant  me  in 
refusing  to  vote  them.  Other  gentlemen  must,  of 
course,  decide  for  themselves ;  these  are  my  convic- 
tions. I  shall,  therefore,  while  I  should  be  happy  to 
see  this  war  brought  to  a  speedy  and  honorable  term- 
ination, continue  to  sustain  the  government  in  its 
prosecution  till  such  terms  of  peace  as  we  ought  to 
accept  can  be  secured.  I  trust,  too,  that  this  will  be 
the  sentiment  of  the  whole  country.  So  far,  the 
progress  of  the  war  has  been  marked  by  a  self-sacri- 
ficing and  patriotic  spirit  whic.h  illustrates  our  free 
institutions,  and  by  victories  as  remarkable  and  brill- 
iant as  any  which  history  records.  Whatever  regrets 
may  be  felt  at  the  interruption  of  the  long  career  of 
peace  which  our  country  has  enjoyed,  we  have  at  least 
gratifying  proof  that  it  has  left  no  enervating  influ- 
ence on  the  national  character. 


90  THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO. 

But  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  objects  of  the 
war.  Every  war  has  its  object.  In  our  two  contests 
with  Great  Britain  we  had  great  objects  before  us. 
The  war  of  the  Revolution  was  undertaken  in  defense 
of  a  great  principle.  The  spirit  of  liberty  revolted 
against  taxation  which  was  too  light  to  be  felt  as  a 
burden,  but  which  was  too  great  a  violation  of  prin- 
ciple to  be  borne  by  men  who  were  jealous  of  the  en- 
croachments of  power.  uThey  snuffed  oppression 
in  the  tainted  gale."  They  struck  for  freedom,  and 
in  the  mighty  struggle  which  ensued  they  had  the 
sympathy  of  mankind.  The  contest  undertaken  for 
liberty  ended  in  independence.  In  the  later  war  with 
that  power,  the  object  was  the  immunity  of  our  flag; 
we  undertook  to  maintain  that  doctrine,  so  important 
to  a  free  commercial  state,  that  those  who  sailed  in 
an  American  ship  should  look  to  the  flag  that  floated 
over  them  for  protection,  and  find  in  its  sanctity  se- 
curity against  arrest  by  any  power,  upon  any  sea 
where  it  might  be  borne. 

What  is  the  object  of  the  present  war  ?  The  invi- 
olability of  our  soil,  and  redress  for  past  wrongs. 
Whenever  Mexico  shall  be  disposed  to  yield  these, 
we  are  bound  to  accept  them.  Till  then,  we  ought 
not  to  hesitate  a  moment,  not  only  to  hold  what  we 
have  obtained,  but  to  make,  if  necessary  to  the  attain- 
ment of  these  objects,  still  stronger  demonstrations. 
Until  the  objects  of  the  war  are  accomplished,  we 
must  prosecute  these  objects.  But  we  owe  it  to  our- 
selves, more  even  than  to  Mexico,  to  take  care  that 
these  objects  are  not  lost  sight  of  in  the  heat  of  the 
contest. 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  91 

I  trust  we  are  not  carrying  on  a  war  for  aggrand- 
izement ;  if  so,  we  should  have  selected  some  other 
adversary,  and  not  have  made  the  point  of  our  lance 
ring  against  the  shield  of  our  weakest  neighbor. 

Nor  is  it  a  war  for  the  acquisition  of  territory. 
We  do  not  wish  to  strip  a  feeble  state  of  her  posses- 
sions because  we  are  stronger  than  she.  But,  until 
Mexico  shall  give  some  unequivocal  sign  that  she  is 
willing  to  grant  us  an  honorable  peace,  the  war  must 
be  continued,  and  ought  to  be  prosecuted  with  the 
utmost  vigor.  I  would  not  be  understood  by  this  to 
mean  that  I  favor  any  particular  plan  for  conducting 
the  war ;  I  simply  desire  to  say  that  such  wise  and 
energetic  measures  ought  to  be  adopted  as  will  save 
us  from  the  evils  of  a  protracted  conflict.  There  is 
much  wisdom  in  the  advice  of  Polonius  to  Laertes : 

"  Beware 

Of  entrance  to  a  quarrel ;  but,  being  in, 
Bear  it,  that  the  opposer  may  beware  of  thee." 

If  from  the  heavy  clouds  which  overspread  Mexico 
I  could  see  the  dove  of  peace  coming  to  us,  bearing 
but  a  single  olive-leaf  in  her  mouth,  I  would  most 
gladly  hail  her  approach  ;  but  in  the  absence  of  any 
such  pacific  sign,  I  hold  that  we  are  bound,  as  a  na- 
tion, to  prosecute  the  war. 

We  ought  not  to  strike  with  a  view  to  dismember 
the  possessions  of  a  weaker  people,  but  our  opera- 
tions ought  to  be  characterized  by  unfaltering  energy, 
and  by  such  a  putting  forth  of  strength  as  shall  teach 
those  against  whom  they  are  directed  that  it  is  their 
interest  to  seek  a  speedy  peace.  I  would  accept  the 
first  sign  of  such  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  Mexico, 


92  THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

and,  so  far  from  degrading  or  crushing  her,  I  would 
meet  her  with  the  most  generous  terms.  They  should 
be  marked  by  the  magnanimity  of  a  great  nation 
treating  with  a  weak  one. 

Through  this  war,  then,  we  desire  to  reach  a  peace. 
The  President  avows  this  to  be  the  purpose  of  the 
government  in  carrying  it  on.  This  is  well.  It 
should  be  so  conducted  as  to  leave  no  room  for  doubt 
upon  this  point.  It  ought  not  to  appear  that  while 
we  profess  to  seek  to  tranquillize  our  frontier,  to 
fix  our  boundary  with  a  neighbor,  and  to  redress 
acknowledged  wrongs,  there  is  a  deeper  and  con- 
cealed object.  Are  there  any  indications  of  a  lust 
of  dominion  in  this  war  ?  Are  there  any  features  in 
the  events  which  have  occurred  in  its  progress  which 
may  be  misunderstood  ?  I  am  not,  in  a  factious  spir- 
it, about  to  inquire  whether  the  President  has  tran- 
scended his  authority.  I  have  a  loftier  purpose.  It 
is  comparatively  a  small  question  how  the  adminis- 
tration has  used  the  power  intrusted  to  it,  except  as 
its  acts  affect  the  character  of  the  country. 

I  propose  to  inquire  whether  any  thing  has  occur- 
red which  exposes  us  to  the  charge  of  entertaining 
the  purpose  of  wresting  provinces  from  Mexico  by 
strength,  and  holding  them  as  permanent  acquisitions 
against  her  consent.  Any  early  instructions  which 
look  to  this  object,  or  any  subsequent  violations  of 
the  law  of  nations  which  go  to  show  such  a  purpose 
on  the  part  of  the  administration,  must  dishonor  our 
national  character  and  impair  our  strength.  If  this 
be  the  object  of  the  war,  then  is  it  diverted  from  its 
true  and  legitimate  purpose.  For  the  time  being, 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  93 

the  President  has  the  conduct  of  the  war  under  his 
charge.  The  question  is,  whether  the  instructions  he 
has  caused  to  be  given,  and  the  events  of  the  war, 
disclose  or  not  a  purpose  of  conquest,  and  the  perma- 
nent acquisition  of  territory? 

I  shall  speak  to  this  question  in  a  spirit  of  fair- 
ness, as  I  have  already  said,  with  the  view  of  inquir- 
ing whether  the  President  has  abused  his  functions, 
but  in  the  hope  of  doing  something  toward  arresting 
a  tendency  in  our  affairs  which,  if  it  is  permitted  to 
go  on,  must  prove  alike  fatal  to  our  national  charac- 
ter and  to  our  free  institutions. 

Let  us  examine  the  instructions  which  those  who 
were  sent  out  to  conduct  this  war  took  with  them. 
I  find  among  the  papers  sent  to  us  by  the  President, 
in  answer  to  a  resolution  of  this  House,  moved  by 
the  honorable  gentleman  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Davis), 
a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  addressed  to  Gen- 
eral Kearney,  under  date  of  June  3, 1846,  and  marked 
u  confidential,"  from  which  I  will  read  a  single  insig- 
nificant paragraph : 

"You  may  assure  the  people  of  those  provinces 
that  it  is  the  wish  and  design  of  the  United  States 
to  provide  for  them  a  free  government  with  the  least 
possible  delay,  similar  to  that  which  exists  in  our 
Territories.  They  will  then  be  called  on  to  exercise 
the  rights  of  freemen  in  electing  their  own  represent- 
atives to  the  Territorial  Legislature.  It  is  foreseen 
that  what  relates  to  the  civil  government  will  be  a 
difficult  and  unpleasant  part  of  your  duty,  and  much 
must  necessarily  be  left  to  your  own  discretion." 

How  was  this  discretion  employed  ?     In  declaring 


94  THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO. 

that  the  conquered  provinces  were  annexed  to  the 
United  States,  in  subverting  the  existing  civil  gov- 
ernment, looking  evidently  to  the  permanent  incor- 
poration of  the  whole  territory  into  the  American 
confederacy.  He  seemed  to  comprehend  the  iull 
scope  of  the  meaning  of  the  Secretary  of  "War,  that 
they  should  be  provided  with  "a  free  government 
with  the  least  possible  delay;"  and  certainly  no  gov- 
ernment was  ever  organized  with  greater  expedition 
than  that  which  this  victorious  general  set  up  in  New 
Mexico.  Even  Ariel  doing  the  bidding  of  Prospero 
hardly  displayed  more  swift  obedience. 

Not  only  was  this  free  government  provided  for 
the  inhabitants  of  those  remote  regions,  but  they  were 
assured,  under  instructions  from  the  same  high  quar- 
ter, that  they  would  soon  ube  called  on  to  exercise 
the  rights  of  freemen  in  electing  their  own  represent- 
atives to  the  Territorial  Legislature."  It  is  impos- 
sible to  overlook  these  things,  and  they  do  seem  to 
disclose  the  existence  of  a  scheme  for  the  conquest 
and  the  permanent  acquisition  of  territory  at  that 
early  day. 

I  shall  now  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  instructions 
from  the  Navy  Department,  and  the  operations  under 
them.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  a  letter  dated 
June  8,  1846,  and  addressed  to  Commodore  Sloat, 
writes : 

uln  like  manner,  if  California  separates  herself 
from  our  enemy,  the  Central  Mexican  government, 
and  establishes  a  government  of  its  own,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  American  flag,  you  will  take  such 
measures  as  will  best  promote  the  attachment  of  the 


THE    WAR    WITH    MEXICO.  95 

people  of  California  to  the  United  States,  will  ad- 
vance their  prosperity,  and  will  make  that  vast  re- 
gion a  desirable  place  of  residence  for  emigrants  from 
our  soil." 

How  evidently  the  permanent  occupation  of  that 
vast  region,  by  emigrants  from  our  soil,  seems  to  be 
contemplated.  This  idea  is  strengthened  by  pursu- 
ing the  instructions  given  at  a  subsequent  date,  July 
12,  1846,  from  the  same  secretary  to  the  same  officer : 

"The  object  of  the  United  States  has  reference  to 
the  ultimate  peace  with  Mexico  ;  and  if  at  that  peace 
the  basis  of  the  uti  possidetis  shall  be  established,  the 
government  expects,  through  your  forces,  to  be  found 
in  actual  possession  of  Upper  California." 

The  instructions  from  the  same  department,  ad- 
dressed to  the  senior  officer  in  command  of  the  United 
States  naval  forces  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  look  to  the 
same  result.  They  are  dated  August  13th,  and  be- 
gin as  follows : 

"  COMMODORE, — The  United  States  being  in  a  state 
of  war  by  the  action  of  Mexico,  it  is  desired  by  the 
prosecution  of  hostilities  to  hasten  the  return  of 
peace,  and  to  secure  it  on  advantageous  conditions. 
For  this  purpose,  orders  have  been  given  to  the  squad- 
ron in  the  Pacific  to  take  and  keep  possession  of  Up- 
per California,  especially  of  the  ports  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, of  Monterey,  and  of  San  Diego ;  and  also,  if 
opportunity  offer,  and  the  people  favor,  to  take  pos- 
session, by  an  inland  expedition,  of  Puebla  de  los 
Angelos,  near  San  Diego. 

uOn  reaching  the  Pacific,  your  first  duty  will  be 
to  ascertain  if  these  orders  have  been  carried  into  ef- 


96  THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO. 

feet ;  if  not,  you  will  take  immediate  possession  of 
Upper  California,  especially  of  the  three  ports  of 
San  Francisco,  Monterey,  and  San  Diego,  so  that  if 
the  treaty  of  peace  shall  be  made  on  the  basis  of  the 
uti  possidetis,  it  may  leave  California  to  the  United 
States." 

Here  is  a  full  and  unequivocal  avowal  of  the  wish 
of  the  government  to  have  the  operations  against 
California  so  conducted,  that  when  a  treaty  of  peace 
is  made  with  Mexico,  if  the  basis  of  the  uti  possidetis 
shall  be  established,  we  may  be  left  in  possession  of 
that  important  and  coveted  territory.  That  this  ba- 
sis would  be  urged  by  our  government  can  hardly  be 
doubted,  for  it  would  leave  us  in  possession,  not  only 
of  all  our  own  territory,  but  of  vast  acquisitions  from 
Mexico.  Let  us  add  to  these  instructions  one  more 
paragraph,  hardly  less  significant  than  those  already 
read,  from  a  letter  addressed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  to  Commodore  Stockton,  and  I  do  not  see  how 
any  one  can  resist  the  conclusion  that,  from  the  very 
commencement  of  these  hostilities  with  Mexico,  the 
permanent  acquisition  of  vast  territorial  possessions 
was  distinctly  in  the  view  of  the  administration. 

"  You  will  therefore,  under  no  circumstances,  vol- 
untarily lower  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  or  relin- 
quish the  actual  possession  of  Upper  California.  Of 
other  points  of  the  Mexican  territory  which  the  forces 
under  your  command  may  occupy,  you  will  maintain 
the  possession  or  withdraw,  as  in  your  judgment  may 
be  most  advantageous  in  prosecution  of  the  war." 

But  of  California,  the  possession  was  not  to  be 
given  up  under  any  circumstances  whatever.  I  do 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  97 

not  undertake  to  say  whether  the  acquisition  of  Cal- 
ifornia, or  any  other  of  the  Mexican  possessions,  is 
desirable  or  not.  I  am  inquiring  into  the  purpose, 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  to  hold  these  prov- 
inces as  permanent  conquests.  I  pass  over  the  ex- 
traordinary proclamations  published  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  California  from  the  sea  and  from  the  land ; 
the  one  professing  to  issue  from  the  "Commander- 
in-chief  of  the  United  States  naval  force  in  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean, "  and  the  other  dated  in  the  City  of  An- 
gels, from  the  "Commander-in-chief  and  Governor 
of  the  Territory  of  California, "  and  am  willing  to  rest 
the  case  upon  papers  emanating  from  those  who  hold 
a  confidential  relation  to  the  executive. 

But,  sir,  whatever  are  to  be  the  results  of  the  war, 
it  ought  not  to  be  carried  on  so  as  to  violate  the  law 
of  nations.  That  code  is  not  to  be  disregarded ;  it  is 
sacred,  and  ought  to  be  solemnly  observed  by  us,  and 
by  all  other  nations. 

It  is  not  a  collection  of  abstract  essays  on  public 
questions  of  right  and  wrong.  This  is  a  law  which 
is  never  silent ;  it  speaks  in  the  midst  of  arms.  It 
is  as  diffusive  as  the  air  we  breathe ;  it  spreads  itself 
by  a  sort  of  omnipresence  over  land  and  sea.  Taking 
its  rise  in  a  sense  of  right,  which  even  in  early  times 
was  powerful  enough  to  vindicate  itself,  it  has  gath- 
ered new  strength  with  the  advance  of  civilization, 
and  it  is  attended  in  this  age  by  sanctions  which  no 
people  may  disregard.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  in  all 
the  wars  which  he  undertook  for  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  carried  the  book  of  Grotius  with  him  as  his 
guide.  We  should  be  always  ready  to  do  this  law 

G 


98  THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

homage.  It  realizes  Hooker's  noble  description  of 
law  in  general :  u  Of  law  there  can  be  no  less  acknowl- 
edged than  that  her  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God,  her 
voice  the  harmony  of  the  world ;  all  things  in  heav- 
en and  earth  do  her  homage ;  the  very  least  as  feel- 
ing her  care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempt  from  her 
power.'" 

Now,  what  is  the  language  of  this  law  in  regard 
to  the  rights  which  result  from  conquest?  Yattel, 
who  has  been  referred  to  more  than  once  in  the  course 
of  the  remarks  which  have  been  made  on  this  subject, 
says: 

"  The  conqueror  who  takes  a  town  or  province  from 
his  enemy  can  not  justly  acquire  over  it  any  other 
rights  than  such  as  belonged  to  the  sovereign  against 
whom  he  has  taken  up  arms.  War  authorizes  him 
to  possess  himself  of  what  belongs  to  his  enemy ;  if 
he  deprives  him  of  the  sovereignty  of  that  town  or 
province,  he  acquires  it,  such  as  it  is,  with  all  its  lim- 
itations and  modifications.  Accordingly,  care  is  usu- 
ally taken  to  stipulate,  both  in  particular  stipulations 
and  in  treaties  of  peace,  that  the  towns  and  countries 
ceded  shall  retain  all  their  liberties,  privileges,  and  im- 
munities." 

This  is  the  extent  of  the  rights  which  the  conquer- 
or acquires  over  possessions  which  the  opposing  sov- 
ereign held  in  subjection  to  his  authority,  but  which 
did  not  fully  belong  to  him  ;  and  it  is  the  same  right 
which  a  successful  invader  acquires  over  cities  or 
provinces  which  he  overruns,  but  which  are  not  re- 
garded as  permanent  acquisitions,  uto  be  thencefor- 
ward united  with  the  new  state." 


THE    WAR   WITH    MEXICO.  99 

uBut  if  the  conqueror  thinks  proper  to  retain  the 
sovereignty  of  the  conquered  state,  and  has  a  right  to 
retain  it,  the  same  principles  must  also  determine  the 
manner  in  which  he  is  to  treat  that  state.  If  it  is 
against  the  sovereign  alone  that  he  has  just  cause  of 
complaint,  reason  plainly  evinces  that  he  acquires  no 
other  rights  by  his  conquest  than  such  as  belonged  to 
the  sovereign  whom  he  has  dispossessed ;  and,  on  the 
submission  of  the  people,  he  is  bound  to  govern  them 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  state" 

Now,  sir,  this  defines  precisely  the  extent  of  our 
rights  over  those  Mexican  states  which  are  occupied 
by  our  armies.  We  have  expelled  the  sovereignty  of 
that  nation  from  those  territories,  and  have  acquired 
it.  We  hold  the  supreme  power  there,  and  the  peo- 
ple, having  submitted  to  our  arms,  are  "to  be  gov- 
erned according  to  the  laws  of  the  state. " 

The  argument  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Vir- 
ginia (Mr.  Bayly)  on  this  subject  is  an  able  one ;  but 
he  misapplies  the  law,  which  he  very  correctly  lays 
down.  He  says,  "  We  acquire  the  rights  of  the  con- 
quered nation,  whatever  they  are, "and  quotes  from 
Wheaton  in  support  of  his  proposition.  No  one  will 
question  the  authority  or  the  law,  which  asserts  that 
"the  right  of  the  state  to  its  public  property  or  do- 
main is  absolute,  and  excludes  that  of  its  own  sub- 
jects as  well  as  other  nations,"  and  which  defines  the 
national  proprietary  right  in  respect  to  those  things 
belonging  to  private  individuals  or  bodies  corporate 
within  its  territorial  limits  as  absolute,  as  far  as  it 
excludes  other  nations,  and  as  only  paramount  in  re- 
spect to  members  of  the  state.  The  other  doctrine, 


100  THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

too,  which  has  been  laid  down,  that  of  the  "uti  pos- 
sidetis,"  will  be  as  little  questioned: 

* '  The  existing  state  of  possession  is  maintained, 
except  so  far  as  altered  by  the  terms  of  treaty.  If 
nothing  be  said  about  the  conquered  countries  or 
places,  they  remain  with  the  conqueror,  and  his  title 
can  not  afterward  be  called  in  question." 

But,  sir,  this  law  applies  to  the  rights  acquired  by 
the  conqueror  over  the  property  found  in  the  con- 
quered territory,  whether  public  or  private,  and  de- 
termines the  results  which  would  follow  the  conclu- 
sion of  a  treaty  of  peace  under  a  certain  state  of  facts. 
It  does  not  touch  the  question  of  political  rights,  im- 
munities, and  privileges.  The  question  is,  when  the 
conquered  sovereignty  gives  back  before  the  advancing 
conqueror,  and  retires  from  the  territory  in  dispute, 
to  what  does  the  conqueror  succeed?  To  the  rights 
of  the  conquered  sovereign ;  that  is,  to  the  right  of 
administering  the  government  of  the  conquered  ter- 
ritory while  he  holds  it.  But  is  the  civil  government 
to  be  subverted,  and  all  existing  internal  laws  to  be 
displaced,  and  principles  and  forms  which  the  con- 
queror may  happen  to  think  good  to  be  imposed  ar- 
bitrarily upon  the  inhabitants  of  provinces  tempo- 
rarily subjected  to  his  power  ? 

This  is  the  point  to  be  regarded ;  for,  I  repeat,  the 
question  as  to  property  does  not  come  up  here ;  it  is 
a  question  of  political  right — a  question  of  far  high- 
er interest  and  importance. 

When  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  comes  to  speak 
of  our  duties  in  respect  to  the  country  now  held  by 
military  occupation,  he  insists  that  "we  are  required 


THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO.  101 

to  establish  temporary  civil  governments,  or,  rather, 
c  quasi"  civil  governments  —  civil  in  their  form  and 
rules  of  proceeding,  and  military  in  their  origin ;  es- 
tablished to  protect  the  rights  of  persons  and  prop- 
erty of  the  vanquished  during  the  military  occupancy 
of  the  country.  The  right,  nay,  the  duty,  to  estab- 
lish such  governments  involves  the  right  to  determine 
upon  its  form.  What  it  shall  be  is  purely  a  matter 
of  expediency  and  convenience.  Upon  principle,  it 
would  seem  that  it  ought  to  be  assimilated  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  forms  of  the  conquering  nation.  As 
in  all  wars  by  land  the  acquisition  of  territory  is  look- 
ed to  as  probable,  the  sooner  the  people  are  intro- 
duced to  the  form  of  government  under  which  they 
are  in  future  to  live,  the  better.  And  the  vanquished 
have  no  right  to  complain,  but  rather  to  be  grateful, 
when  the  form  adopted  is  not  worse  than  the  one  su- 
perseded. And  even  when  it  is  worse,  they  must  sub- 
mit to  it  as  the  fortune  of  war. " 

I  must  dissent  from  all  this.  I  can  not  admit  that 
these  principles  apply  to  our  rights  over  the  Mexican 
territory  now  held  by  our  arms.  They  apply  to  com- 
plete conquests  and  permanent  acquisitions,  not  to 
such  as  are  held  in  temporary  possession  merely. 

Yattel,  in  laying  down  the  doctrine,  expressly  re- 
fers to  a  conquered  town  or  province  which  has  pass- 
ed "into  the  power  of  the  conqueror.  Thenceforward 
united  with  the  new  state  to  which  it  belongs,  if  it 
be  a  loser  by  the  change,  that  is  a  misfortune  which 
it  must  wholly  impute  to  the  fortune  of  war."  When 
does  the  right  thus  to  treat  the  conquered  territory 
arise  ?  When,  in  the  language  of  the  same  writer, 


102  THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO. 

"by  the  treaty  of  peace,  or  the  entire  submission  and 
extinction  of  the  state  to  which  those  towns  and  prov- 
inces belonged,  the  acquisition  is  completed,  and  the 
property  becomes  stable  and  perfect." 

I  readily  admit,  that  if  a  conquered  possession  is  to 
be  permanently  held  and  incorporated  with  the  terri- 
tory of  the  conquering  nation  as  its  own,  the  con- 
queror has  a  right  to  extend  his  own  laws  over  it  ab- 
solutely, but  not  when  the  tenure  is  temporary  only. 
In  that  case,  the  country  must  be  governed  by  the 
subsisting  laws.  Those  who  so  hold  it  are  not  to  ex- 
pel the  laws  which  existed  there  before  it  came  into 
their  possession.  A  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
(Mr.  Holmes)  promptly  put  this  matter  in  its  true 
light,  and  another  gentleman  from  the  same  state 
(Mr.  Woodward)  has  clearly  and  forcibly  exhibited 
the  law  of  nations  upon  the  subject. 

It  may  well  be  remarked  here,  too,  that  it  is  not 
for  the  conquering  general  to  say  what  shall  be  the 
form  of  government  of  the  country  which  he  has 
seized.  He  is  bound  to  maintain  his  military  occu- 
pation of  it,  but  he  can  do  no  more.  Nor  can  the 
President  provide  a  civil  government,  for  he  merely 
holds  the  supreme  command  of  the  forces ;  it  is  for 
this  government,  acting  through  its  several  depart- 
ments, to  establish  laws  over  it. 

These  principles  are  not  contradicted  by  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  case  of  the  United 
States  vs.  Rice,  which  has  been  referred  to.  The 
question  involved  there  was  one  of  property,  as  af- 
fected by  a  change  of  sovereignty,  not  a  question  of 
civil  liberty  or  of  political  rights.  The  facts  were 


THE    WAR    WITH    MEXICO.  103 

these:  Goods  were  imported  into  Castine  in  Septem- 
ber, 1814,  during  its  occupation  by  the  enemy,  and 
remained  there  until  its  evacuation.  Upon  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  American  government,  were  they 
subject  to  duties  imposed  by  our  revenue  laws?  The 
Supreme  Court  declared  they  were  not,  upon  the 
principle  that  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States 
over  the  territory  in  possession  of  the  British  troops 
was  suspended,  and  the  inhabitants  passed  under  a 
temporary  allegiance  to  the  British  government,  and 
were  under  such  laws  as  they  chose  to  recognize  and 
enforce. 

The  proclamation  of  General  Harrison  has  been 
referred  to,  but  there  is  a  broad  contrast  between  that 
document  and  the  proclamation  of  General  Kearney. 
I  feel  a  profound  interest  in  the  memory  of  Harrison ; 
it  is  consecrated  by  good  deeds,  and  has  received  the 
seal  of  death.  A  long  life,  marked  at  every  step  by 
purity  in  his  personal  relations,  and  by  his  respect  for 
public  law,  was  closed  in  the  midst  of  the  gratulations 
which  greeted  him  from  all  parts  of  this  great  repub- 
lic on  the  occasion  of  the  most  astonishing  political 
victory  which  the  annals  of  this  country  can  show. 

In  referring  to  his  proclamation,  dated  the  17th  of 
October,  1812,  we  find  no  subversion  of  subsisting 
laws;  no  appointment  of  judges,  attorney  general, 
sheriffs,  and  a  hundred  other  officers;  no  new  and 
complex  system  of  laws  instituted.  True,  the  com- 
missions of  all  magistrates  were  suspended,  tut  their 
authority  was  still  continued  under  that  of  the  Unit- 
ed States.  In  taking  possession  of  Upper  Canada, 
he  said  to  the  inhabitants, 


104  THE  WAR  WITH   MEXICO. 

uThe  district  is  no\v  in  the  quiet  possession  of  our 
troops ;  it  becomes  necessary  to  provide  for  its  gov- 
ernment; therefore  we  hereby  proclaim  and  make 
known,  that  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  country,  as  they 
existed  or  were  in  force  at  the  period  of  our  arrival, 
shall  continue  to  prevail." 

Had  a  course  like  this  been  pursued,  we  should 
have  been  spared  the  present  controversy.  The  spec- 
tacle would  not  have  been  presented  to  the  world  of 
our  indecent  haste  to  provide  new  forms  of  govern- 
ment the  moment  we  had  obtained  possession  of  one 
of  the  provinces  of  our  enemy. 

I  have  thus,  sir,  endeavored  to  present  the  real 
question,  which  is  not  whether  a  milder  or  harsher 
form  of  government  has  been  introduced  by  our  army 
into  the  Mexican  .states  which  we  hold  in  subjection, 
but  whether  the  occupied  provinces  are  regarded  and 
treated  as  permanent  conquests  already  annexed  to 
this  country.  It  is  not  my  object  to  cast  any  censure 
either  on  the  President  or  his  officers;  but  the  in- 
structions to  which  I  have  referred,  and  the  disregard 
of  obvious  principles  of  international  law,  seem  to 
disclose  the  purpose  of  making  this  a  war  of  con- 
quest. Indeed,  some  gentlemen  upon  this  floor, 
friends  too  of  the  President,  do  not  hesitate  to  avow 
that  it  is  such.  Among  other  significant  declarations 
on  this  subject,  a  gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr. 
Gordon)  informed  us  some  days  since  that  they  in- 
tended "to  keep  what  we  have."  Against  this  rising 
lust  of  dominion,  we  ought  at  once  to  take  a  position 
and  set  up  a  standard.  If  it  should  spread  and 


THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO.  105 

gather  strength,  it  will  prove  fatal  to  our  free  insti- 
tutions. Our  very  successes  will  ruin  us.  Cicero 
attributes  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  empire 
to  the  oblivion  of  the  great  principles  which  they  had 
recognized  in  their  earlier  days  and  humbler  fortunes. 
In  the  early  extension  of  her  power,  she  became,  in 
his  language,  uthe  patroness  rather  than  the  mistress 
of  the  world. "  All  this  passed  away  with  the  tri- 
umphs of  Sylla.  Our  government  is  one  of  consent ; 
it  rests  so  lightly  upon  its  citizens  that  its  weight  is 
not  felt.  If  we  should  become  engaged  in  wars  for 
the  extension  of  our  sway,  overrunning  neighboring 
states,  and  bringing  into  our  confederacy  a  reluctant 
people,  the  whole  character  of  our  political  system 
will  be  changed;  it  will  be  converted  into  a  political 
despotism,  and  we  shall  furnish  another  grand  and 
instructive,  but  unhappy  instance  of  the  failure  of  in- 
stitutions intended  to  provide  for  the  protection  of 
human  liberty. 

"  Such  is  the  moral  of  all  earthly  tales ; 
'Tis  but  the  same  rehearsal  of  the  past, 
First  freedom,  and  then  glory  ;  when  that  fails, 
Corruption,  slavery,  barbarism  at  last ; 
And  history,  with  all  her  volumes  vast, 
Hath  but  one  page." 

I  am  not  averse  to  the  extension  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  States,  nor  do  I  feel  on  that  subject  the 
apprehensions  which  haunt  the  minds  of  some  gen- 
tlemen. Such  is  the  elasticity  of  our  federal  system 
of  government,  that  it  may  be  extended  over  any 
space,  great  or  small.  It  resembles  the  fabled  tent 
in  the  Arabian  Nights,  which  could  cover  with  its 
folds  few  or  many.  Steam  and  the  magnetic  tele- 


106  THE   WAK    WITH   MEXICO. 

graph  overcome  space,  and  bring  together  remote 
parts ;  but  if  territory  is  to  be  acquired,  let  it  be  in  a 
legitimate  way,  by  purchase,  or  by  the  coming  in  of  a 
neighboring  people  who  have  attained  a  high  degree 
of  civilization.  If  our  institutions  are  to  extend 
themselves,  let  it  be  by  their  own  inherent  and  peace- 
ful power,  not  by  the  aggressive  force  of  arms.  Our 
national  character  and  the  purity  of  our  political  sys- 
tem are  of  far  more  consequence  to  us  than  any 
amount  of  territory  which  we  can  acquire. 

There  are  other  topics  to  which  I  must  now  turn. 
The  gentleman  from  the  State  of  New  York,  to  whom 
I  have  already  referred  (Mr.  Gordon),  informed  the 
House  that  "the  people  of  the  United  States  meant 
to  hold  on  to  California;  they  meant  to  conquer  it, 
and  make  it  a  permanent  acquisition.  That  was 
what  they  meant  to  do  with  it.  The  President  nei- 
ther meant  to  do,  nor  had  he  the  power  to  do,  any 
thing  as  to  the  disposition  of  our  conquests.  Gen- 
tlemen might  be  very  easy;  in  due  time,  the  American 
people  would  take  proper  care  both  of  California  and 
New  Mexico.  Of  one  thing  they  might  be  assured, 
those  provinces  would  never  return  to  Mexico  again. " 
This  is  explicit  enough,  and  we  ought  to  feel  under 
obligations  to  the  honorable  gentleman,  who  is  a 
member  of  the  party  in  power,  for  an  avowal  so 
frank  and  unequivocal.  Not  content,  however,  with 
enlightening  us  as  to  the  objects  of  the  war,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  inform  us  upon  "another  subject,  and  one 
of  no  trifling  moment.  The  people  of  the  United 
States — a  vast  majority  of  them,  at  least — were  not 
only  for  the  war,  and  for  retaining  this  conquered  ter- 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  107 

ritory  as  an  indemnity  for  the  robberies  and  spolia- 
tions of  Mexico,  but  they  meant  to  make  it  a  FREE 


TERRITORY." 


Such,  then,  is  a  bold  declaration  of  the  purpose  to 
hold  New  Mexico  and  California  as  permanent  ac- 
quisitions, to  be  incorporated  with  this  confederacy, 
and  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  whole  territory. 

In  the  same  spirit,  another  gentleman  from  New 
York  (Mr.  Preston  King)  brought  forward  yesterday 
morning  a  measure  which  looked  to  the  acquisition 
of  territory  from  Mexico,  and  which  provided  for  the 
total  exclusion  of  slavery  from  it  ;  and  to-day,  taking 
advantage  of  the  permission  which  the  House  grant- 
ed him  to  make  a  personal  explanation,  he  has  spoken 
at  length  upon  this  subject,  insisting  upon  the  perma- 
nent annexation  of  new  territory,  to  be  hereafter  con- 

verted into  FREE  STATES. 

I  regret  the  introduction  of  this  subject.  It  is  im- 
possible to  overlook  the  danger  which  it  brings  with 
it.  Gentlemen  belonging  to  the  party  in  power  in- 
sist that  this  war  shall  be  converted  into  a  war  of 
conquest  ;  that  large  and  important  states,  stretching 
through  several  parallels  of  latitude,  shall  be  torn 
from  Mexico,  and  incorporated  into  our  confederacy  ; 
that  peace  shall  be  made  upon  no  other  terms,  no 
matter  how  ample  the  remuneration  tendered  for  past 
wrongs  may  be  ;  and  that  the  territory  thus  acquired 
shall  be  made  to  increase  the  preponderance  of  one 
section  of  the  Union,  by  legislating  here  in  advance 
as  to  the  character  of  the  population  which  shall 
overspread  it. 

I  take  now  the  ground  which  I  took  before  on  the 


108  THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

Oregon  question.  We  have  no  right  to  say  to  the 
executive  department  of  the  government  what  shall 
be  done  in  settling  the  terms  of  a  treaty,  and  I  there- 
fore consider  it  highly  improper  to  introduce  such 
projects  here  as  have  been  referred  to. 

The  attempt  to  fix  in  advance,  by  a  vote  of  this 
House,  the  terms  of  a  treaty  hereafter  to  be  concluded 
with  Mexico,  is  a  solemn  interference  with  the  prov- 
ince and  duties  of  another  department  of  this  govern- 
ment. That  duty  belongs  to  the  treaty-making  pow- 
er, which,  by  the  Constitution,  is  vested  in  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  Senate.  It  is  for  this  House  to  discuss 
questions  of  a  very  different  character.  Each  depart- 
ment of  the  government  should  be  left  to  the  undis- 
turbed exercise  of  its  own  functions.  It  is  as  unwise 
as  it  is  unbecoming  in  us  to  leave  the  sphere  of  our 
legislative  duties ;  we  shall  find  full  employment  in 
a  faithful  attention  to  them  in  the  present  state  of 
our  national  affairs,  without  yielding  to  the  prompt- 
ings of  a  discursive  philanthropy,  which  can  only  in- 
jure where  it  seeks  to  guide.  If  this  scheme  of  ac- 
quiring territory  is  persisted  in,  and  the  power  of  this 
government  is  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  it  so  as  to 
exclude  slavery  from  every  part  of  it,  it  must  be  seen, 
by  all  who  have  bestowed  any  reflection  upon  the 
history  of  the  organization  and  progress  of  our  polit- 
ical system,  that  the  most  serious,  JE  may  say  disas- 
trous, results  will  follow.  This  Union  can  only  stand 
on  those  compromises  which  I  regard  in  their  sacred 
obligation  as  second  only  to  the  Constitution.  The 
compromise  which  has  already  taken  place  on  the 
Missouri  question  was  sufficiently  disadvantageous  to 


THE    WAR    WITH    MEXICO.  109 

the  South.  The  South  does  not  interfere  in  the  con- 
cerns of  the  North.  A  lofty  feeling  of  brotherhood 
for  the  people  of  this  whole  country  is  cherished 
there.  I,  for  one,  rejoice  in  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments and  unprecedented  success  of  the  industry  and 
enterprise  of  New  England  as  much  as  any  mam-a*! 
turn  with  pride  to  her  revolutionary  history.  I  ad- 
mire the  genius  which  she  sends  to  our  national  coun- 
cils. I  survey  with  pleasure  the  vast  resources  and 
rapid  growth  of  this  whole  country.  Why  is  it,  then, 
that  no  opportunity  is  lost  to  proscribe  the  South,  to 
subject  our  internal  policy  to  censure,  and  to  direct 
against  our  institutions  the  sentiment  of  mankind, 
both  at  home  and  abroad?  Gentlemen  have  tran- 
scended the  rules  which  should  govern  them  here ; 
if  they  proceed,  they  will  rend  the  bonds  of  this  Union 
as  Samson  burst  the  withes  that  bound  him. 

Is  this  the  doctrine  to  be  acted  on,  that  territory 
must  be  acquired,  and,  wherever  acquired,  free  labor 
may  be  suffered  to  go  there,  but  the  men  of  the  South 
must  not  take  their  slaves  with  them  there  ? 

When  this  great  question  was  agitated  in  1820,  a 
Northern  man,  Mr.  Holmes,  of  Maine,  said  that  to 
regulate  slavery  was  the  attribute  of  sovereign  power. 
He  used  this  language : 

uTo  regulate  the  relation  between  different  mem- 
bers of  a  community,  or  to  establish  or  prohibit  slav- 
ery, is  an  attribute  of  sovereign  power.  *  *  *  * 
The  gentleman  from  New  York  has  told  us  that  a 
slave  representation  beyond  the  original  states  is  un 
equal,  and  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  compact.  I 
know  not  where  the  gentleman  derived  his  authority ; 


110  THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

surely  not  from  the  Constitution.  It  is  there  argued 
that  the  representation  shall  be  apportioned  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  free  persons  and  three  fifths  of 
the  slaves,  not  in  such  states  as  then  existed,  but  l  in 
such  as  may  be  included  within  the  Union."1  This 
language  is  explicit  and  positive." 

Mr.  Macon,  of  North  Carolina,  took  part  in  the 
same  debate — that  which  grew  out  of  the  Missouri 
question.  That  good  and  great  man,  at  once  calm 
and  wise,  was  distinguished  for  a  patriotism  which 
was  comprehensive  enough  to  embrace  his  whole 
country.  He  said, 

"The  gentleman  from  New  Hampshire  has  said 
that  the  Constitution  was  a  compromise  as  to  slaves. 
This  is  no  doubt  true,  but  not  a  compromise  to 
emancipate.  The  states  that  held  them  could  free 
them,  as  others  had  done,  without  asking  or  consult- 
ing the  convention  or  Congress.  But  it  was  a  com- 
promise as  to  representation,  and  nothing  else." 

This  is  the  language  of  truth  and  justice.  But  we 
are  told  now  that  the  North  will  hold  the  conquered 
Mexican  provinces,  but  that  neither  I,  nor  any  South- 
ern man,  nor  our  children,  nor  our  children's  children, 
shall  set  a  foot  within  them  unless  we  consent  to 
abandon  our  property.  This  is  not  a  place  to  dis- 
cuss the  question  of  slavery.  It  is  a  subject  that 
should  never  be  named  in  this  hall.  It  is  an  insti- 
tution which  belongs  to  the  Southern  States,  and  gen- 
tlemen do  those  states  great  wrong  to  press  them  or 
that  subject  here. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  did  them  much  injustice. 
Suppose  the  South  should  select  a  particular  institu- 


THE   WAR  WITH   MEXICO.  Ill 

tion  existing  in  the  Northern  States,  or  a  particular 
feature  in  Northern  society — the  labor  of  operatives 
in  factories,  for  instance — and  undertake  to  denounce 
it  and  overthrow  it,  how  would  it  be  regarded? 
What  would  they  think  and  say  of  such  a  proceed- 
ing ?  Why,  then,  is  this  course  pursued  toward  the 
South? 

The  slave  population  must  have  a  representation 
somewhere.  By  the  compromise  of  the  Constitution, 
the  slave  states  are  deprived  of  a  portion  of  their  po- 
litical importance.  What,  then,  is  to  be  gained  by 
limiting  slavery  to  the  precise  extent  which  it  now 
occupies?  Will  it  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
slave  ?  Would  their  introduction  into  new  territory 
increase  their  number  ?  The  object  is  clearly  a  polit- 
ical one,  thinly  disguised  by  an  assumed  philanthropy. 
Suppose  you  could  even  succeed,  by  keeping  the  sla- 
very within  its  present  limits,  in  bringing  about  its 
abolition,  would  not  the  political  importance  of  these 
people  be  increased  by  rising  from  a  three  fifth  to  a 
full  representation  ? 

If  there  are  other  states  to  be  formed  at  our  side, 
under  the  same  burning  sun,  and  covering  the  same 
fertile  plains,  will  they  not  have  common  interests, 
and  ought  they  not  to  have  common  institutions  and 
common  sympathies  ?  Why  is  every  occasion  seized 
on  to  bring  this  unprofitable  and  dangerous  question 
into  the  field  of  controversy  ?  I  ask,  in  the  name  of 
the  Constitution,  and  of  the  men  who  formed  our  in- 
stitutions as  they  exist,  that  this  subject  shall  not  be 
made  here  a  theme  for  angry  disputation.  Let  not 
gentlemen  disturb  the  regular  course  of  business  in 


112  THE   WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

this  body  by  rising  in  their  places,  and  meeting  us 
with  projects  and  speeches  such  as  those  to  which  we 
have  listened.  If  this  is  to  be  done,  this  government 
will  become  unequal,  and  its  days  will  be  numbered. 
The  spirit  still  lingers  in  the  South  which  produced 
our  Revolution — a  spirit  which  will  contend  for  po- 
litical rights  to  the  very  last.  The  people  of  those 
states  love  this  Union ;  they  glory  in  the  past,  and 
hope  for  the  future.  They  will  cling  to  the  pillars 
of  the  CONSTITUTION  as  long  as  they  can ;  they  will 
listen  to  the  parting  words  of  WASHINGTON,  still  vi- 
brating in  their  ears,  as  long  as  endurance  is  possible; 
but,  when  they  find  that  they  are  to  be  down-trodden, 
they  will  be  constrained,  though  it  be  with  deep  grief, 
to  give  up  an  alliance  which  is  to  be  marked  only  by 
wrongs  and  oppressions,  and  gather  about  their  homes 
and  their  property. 

Sir,  I  trust  that  hour  will  never  come.  The  spir- 
it which  has  this  day  been  manifested  by  the  member 
from  New  York  ought  to  be  rebuked,  and  the  blame 
for  the  introduction  of  this  subject  ought  not  to  be 
thrown  from  him  upon  the  gentleman  from  Tennes- 
see (Mr.  Gentry),  who  spoke  of  it  only  because  he  had 
the  sagacity  to  see  the  question  coming.  It  is  time 
to  meet  it.  If  it  is  provided  that  the  states  on  this 
side  the  Mississippi  shall  be  equally  balanced  in  re- 
spect to  slavery,  why  should  not  the  same  balance  be 
permitted  to  exist  on  the  other  side  ? 

As  to  the  acquisition  of  Mexican  territory,  it  is  a 
question  which  belongs  to  the  treaty-making  power. 
We  should  not  now  discuss  it.  But,  as  it  has  been 
thrust  upon  our  attention,  I  have  felt  it  my  duty,  as 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  113 

a  Southern  man,  to  express  my  own  views.  If  ter- 
ritory is  to  be  acquired,  let  it  be  subjected  to  compro- 
mises which  have  been  already  formed.  I  do  not 
wish  for  any  violation  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
Let  it  stand  in  letter  and  spirit.  Let  the  line  upon 
which  it  runs  be  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

I  hope  to  see  that  worst  of  all  party  spirit,  the  spir- 
it of  geographical  party,  forever  banished  from  this 
hall.  If  kept  alive  here,  it  will  lead  to  the  fiercest 
collision  which  has  ever  been  witnessed  in  this  coun- 
try. 

When  it  becomes  dominant,  and  the  rights  of  the 
North  are  exalted  above  those  of  the  South — when 
fraternal  affection  is  lost  in  a  struggle  for  party  as- 
cendency— when  patriotism  dwindles  down  into  a  nar- 
row regard  for  a  mere  section  of  our  country,  then 
will  this  government,  erected  by  our  fathers  for  the 
protection  of  human  liberty,  and  which  has  awaken- 
ed throughout  the  world  the  noblest  hopes,  totter  to 
its  fall. 

H 


BELIEF  FOR  IRELAND. 

A   SPEECH   DELIVERED   IN   THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES    OF   THE 
UNITED  STATES,  MARCH  3d,  1847. 

I  EARNESTLY  desire,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  passage  of  this 
bill.  It  makes  no  appropriation  of  money,  but  it 
authorizes  the  employment  of  two  of  our  ships,  the 
JAMESTOWN  and  the  MACEDONIAN,  to  bear  the  contribu- 
tions of  individual  benevolence  to  the  starving  peo- 
ple of  Ireland.  No  object  can  be  nobler  than  this. 
Never  has  a  stronger  appeal  been  made  to  the  sym- 
pathies of  a  people  than  that  which  Ireland  in  her 
destitution  makes  to  ours,  and  I  trust  that  the  House 
will  not  hesitate  to  respond  to  it  promptly,  generous- 
ly, nobly.  Here  is  an  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
that,  as  a  Christian  nation,  we  feel  the  full  elevation 
and  unselfishness  of  the  divine  sentiment,  "It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Let  us  promptly  grant  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
the  authority  which  this  bill  asks  for,  that  the  grace- 
ful assent  of  the  government  may  be  given  to  a  no- 
ble act  of  individual  munificence.  Such  opportuni- 
ties do  not  often  present  themselves  to  nations,  and 
they  are  too  precious  to  be  lost. 

There  would  be,  as  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  Winthrop)  has  remarked,  a  beau- 
tiful coincidence  in  the  name  of  one  of  the  vessels  to 
be  employed  in  this  great  errand  of  charity.  The 
JAMESTOWN  at  once  calls  up  the  most  interesting  asso- 


BELIEF   FOB   IRELAND.  115 

ciations  connected  with  our  own  early  history ;  we 
look  back  to  that  feeble  settlement  on  the  shores  of 
Virginia,  when  the  colonists,  far  from  the  mother- 
country,  and  surrounded  by  a  savage  and  fierce  race,! 
were  straitened  for  the  means  of  subsistence,  and 
when  they  awaited  long  and  anxiously  the  arrival  of 
a  ship  from  England  as  their  only  relief  from  im- 
pending famine.  -  8*1*  Hi  M>.  ; 

But,  sir,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  coincidence  be- 
tween the  name  of  the  other  vessel  and  the  service 
to  which  it  is  destined  would  be  equally  striking  and 
happy:  the  MACEDONIAN  reminds  us  of  that  Macedo-; 
nian  cry  which  reached  the  ear  of  the  great  apostle 
in  the  midst  of  his  extended  field  of  labor,  which 
knew  no  limits  but  the  boundaries  of  the  peopled 
world — "Come  over  and  help  us/1 

I  trust  that  no  impediments  will  be  thrown  in  the= 
Way  of  such  an  enterprise  as  this.  Let  the  world 
behold  the  spectacle  of  the  youngest  among  the  na- 
tions ministering  to  the  sufferings  and  the  wants  of 
one  of  the  oldest.  There  is'  a  moral  power  in  such 
examples  which  can  not  be  lost  upon  mankind.  The 
proudest  triumphs  of  war — the  grandest  displays  of 
a  nation's  power  in  mustering  invincible  armies  and 
sending  out  mighty  fleets — all  the  glory  ever  won 
upon  the  world's  most  renowned  battle-fields — all  the 
achievements  of  the  greatest  captains  in  ancient  or 
modern  times — all  such  glory  as  this  must  pale  be- 
fore such  an  act  of  national  sympathy  and  benevo- 
lence as  the  world  will  witness  when  the  American 
ships,  freighted  with  food  for  a  starving  people  sep- 
arated from  us  by  the  breadth  of  the  Atlantic,  shall 


116  RELIEF  FOR   IRELAND. 

drop  their  anchors  in  the  waters  which  wash  the 
coast  of  Ireland.  To  nothing  in  all  our  annals  will 
the  philanthropist  turn  with  higher  satisfaction,  when 
he  searches  the  pages  which  record  our  national  prog- 
ress and  glory,  than  to  the  passage  of  this  bill  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States. 

I  confess,  sir,  that  there  is  something  in  the  con- 
dition of  Ireland,  and  in  the  character  of  the  Irish 
people,  which  profoundly  interests  me.  Her  wrongs 
— the  heroic  spirit  of  her  people — the  genius  and  the 
eloquence  of  her  sons — the  spectacle  of  the  bravest 
and  the  most  generous  of  them  dying  on  the  scaf- 
fold, or  sent  into  exile — all  this  interests  and  binds 
me. 

In  all  the  battles  which  have  decided  the  fate  of 
Europe  in  our  time,  and  which  have  given  the  Brit- 
ish empire  the  first  place  among  the  great  powers 
of  the  world,  Irish  valor  has  turned  the  fortunes  of 
the  day,  and  Irish  blood  has  been  spilled  with  gen- 
erous profusion  and  uncalculating  ardor.  Yet  to- 
day her  people  are  under  the  ban  of  the  government 
which  they  have  upheld;  the  fertile  soil  of  Ireland, 
teeming  with  abundance,  is  made  to  support  for- 
eign landlords — absentees,  who  squander  abroad  the 
wealth  which  Ireland  yields,  and  the  cry  of  famish- 
ing thousands  comes  sounding  across  the  waters  into 
our  ears. 

Sir,  we  can  not  be  deaf  to  that  cry.  Let  us  send 
our  national  ships  to  her  shores ;  let  the  flag  of  the 
United  States,  as  it  floats  in  the  breezes  which  fan 
the  Irish  coast,  be  hailed  by  that  people  as  the  en- 
sign of  hope  and  deliverance ;  and  let  the  heart  of 


RELIEF  FOB   IRELAND.  117 

Ireland  receive  the  assurance  that  in  America  there 
is  a  sympathy  with  suffering  ever  ready  to  minister 
to  and  to  relieve  the  destitution  of  a  brave  and  gen- 
erous nation. 


SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  DECEMBER  18th,  1847. 

Mr.  Milliard  undertook  to  move  the  postponement  to  a  day  certain,  and  then 
proceeded  as  follows : 

MR.  SPEAKER, — It  so  happens  that  I  am  the  only 
member  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  now  entitled  to  a  seat  on  this  floor.  It 
is  important  to  secure  the  good-will  of  the  country 
in  behalf  of  an  enterprise  so  elevated — one  might  say, 
so  sublime. 

There  exists  some  misconception  in  regard  to  the 
institution,  and  idle  rumors  are  afloat  which  may 
affect  it  injuriously.  Scientific  establishments  are 
not  to  go  out  and  court  popularity,  but  they  must 
not  be  indifferent  to  public  sentiment.  Before  en- 
tering upon  the  stormy  and  engrossing  debates  in 
which  we  shall  presently  be  engaged,  I  desire,  by  a 
simple  statement  of  facts,  to  give  the  House  a  view 
of  the  history,  condition,  and  plans  of  an  institution 
which  so  strongly  appeals  to  us  for  protection, 

Mr.  Smithson's  bequest  was  a  noble  one.  He  gave 
his  whole  property  to  found,  at  the  City  of  Washing- 
ton, uan  establishment  for  the  increase  and  diffusion 
of  knowledge  among  men.'1  America  was  selected 
as  the  field  for  so  wide  and  beneficent  a  design. 
Young,  vigorous,  rapidly  increasing  in  numbers,  this 
country  afforded  the  best  ground  upon  which  to  rest 


SMITHSONIAN   INSTITUTION.  119 

an  establishment  which  was  designed  to  enlighten 
mankind. 

Entering  into  the  spirit  of  this  bequest,  Congress 
passed  an  act  making  the  most  liberal  provision  for 
carrying  it  into  practical  effect.  The  whole  sum, 
with  its  accumulated  interest,  was  turned  over  to  the 
establishment  created  by  the  act,  composed  of  the 
President  and  Vice-president  of  the  United  States, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the 
Postmaster  General,  the  Attorney  General,  the  chief 
justice,  and  the  Commissioner  of  the  Patent  Office 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of 
Washington,  during  the  time  for  which  they  shall 
hold  their  respective  offices,  and  such  other  persons 
as  they  may  elect  honorary  members.  The  sum 
amounted  to  five  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  dollars,  and  a  further  sum  of 
two  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  dollars,  being  the  accumulated  inter- 
est upon  that  sum  since  it  came  into  possession  of 
the  government.  The  principal  sum  was  forever  to 
remain  untouched ;  the  interest  was  appropriated  to 
the  erection  of  the  building  and  incidental  expenses. 
The  building  to  be  erected  was  to  meet  the  provi- 
sions of  the  act,  which  required  it  to  contain  suitable 
rooms  or  halls  for  the  reception  and  arrangement, 
upon  a  liberal  scale,  of  objects  of  natural  history,  in- 
cluding a  geological  and  mineralogical  cabinet ;  also 
a  chemical  laboratory,  a  library,  a  gallery  of  art,  and 
the  necessary  lecture-rooms.  Another  section  pro- 
vides that,  in  proportion  as  suitable  arrangements 


120  SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION. 

can  be  made  for  their  reception,  all  objects  of  art, 
and  of  foreign  and  curious  research,  and  all  objects 
of  natural  history,  plants,  and  geological  and  miner- 
alogical  specimens,  belonging  or  hereafter  to  belong 
to  the  United  States,  which  may  be  in  the  City  of 
Washington,  shall  be  delivered  to  the  care  of  the  in- 
stitution, and  so  classed  and  arranged  as  best  to  fa- 
cilitate the  examination  and  study  of  them  in  the 
building  to  be  erected.  This  at  once  empties  the 
great  hall  of  the  Patent  Office,  three  hundred  and  fif- 
ty feet  long,  of  its  contents.  It  must  be  at  once  seen 
that  the  Smithsonian  building  ought,  if  it  is  to  ac- 
commodate these  great  and  various  objects,  to  be.  of 
ample  dimensions.  This  building,  too,  was  to  be 
erected  without  delay.  The  site  was  to  be  selected 
"forthwith"  uand  so  soon"  as  that  was  done,  the 
Board  was  to  proceed  with  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ing. 

The  Board  of  Regents  faithfully  studied  the  will 
of  Mr.  Smithson  and  the  law  creating  the  establish- 
ment. 

Two  things  were  to  be  accomplished.  First,  to  in- 
crease knowledge  by  original  research  ;  and  then,  sec- 
ond, to  diffuse  it  by  suitable  and  efficient  agencies ; 
or,  in  the  language  of  the  venerable  and  distinguished 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Adams),  "to 
spread  knowledge  throughout  the  world." 

The  task  devolved  by  Congress  on  the  Regents  was 
no  light  one.  They  were  called  on  to  organize  and 
set  on  foot  this  establishment,  so  beneficent  in  its 
conception,  so  comprehensive  in  its  design.  The  act 
of  Congress  prescribed  certain  parts  of  the  plan,  and 


t    '  SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION.  121 

left  the  other  parts  to  be  devised  by  the  Board  of 
Regents.  That  part  of  the  plan  which  was  em- 
braced in  the  act  of  Congress  had  almost  exclusive 
reference  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  The  means 
which  provide  for  the  increase  have  been  supplied  by 
the  Regents. 

We  have  been  charged  with  being  wildly  extrava- 
gant, laying  out  large  sums  in  purchasing  old  books. 
A  story  has  been  circulated  that  we  paid  $2500  for 
an  old  and  rare  copy  of  the  Bible.  Now,  sir,  no  man 
loves  the  Bible  more  than  I  do,  but  I  could  not  have 
consented  to  an  expenditure  of  that  sort.  I  dare  say 
no  one  member  of  the  Board  ever  dreamed  of  such 
an  expenditure. 

Again,  some  have  charged  us  with  being  too  utili- 
tarian, confining  our  operations  to  an  improvement 
of  the  physical  condition  of  mankind.  We  have  cer- 
tainly endeavored,  in  our  plan  of  organization,  to 
provide  for  the  entire  wants  of  mankind,  and  to  meet 
the  spirit  of  the  age.  We  have  brought  into  our 
service  a  gentleman  who  stands  in  the  front  rank  of 
the  science  of  the  country — I  mean  Professor  Henry, 
formerly  of  Princeton.  His  name  is  well  known  in 
Europe,  and  is  associated  with  that  of  Faraday,  and 
Arago,  and  Quetelet.  I  have  before  me  the  plan  of 
organization  adopted  for  the  operations  of  the  insti- 
tution, to  which  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
House,  but  which  (as  Marc  Antony  said,  on  a  much 
more  important  occasion,  about  the  will  of  Caesar), 
pardon  me,  I  do  not  intend  to  read.  I  wish  every 
gentleman  in  the  House  would  read  it,  for  it  would 
receive  on  all  sides  a  warm  and  generous  support. 


122  SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION. 

I  desire  to  submit  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to  our 
building.  We  were  authorized  by  Congress  to  ex- 
pend $240, 000  in  its  erection ;  but,  in  view  of  the 
wide  field  of  knowledge  to  be  cultivated,  the  Regents 
resolved  to  save  a  part  of  this  sum  and  add  it  to  the 
principal.  Keeping  in  view  the  great  interests  to  be 
provided  for,  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a  building  of 
proportions  sufficiently  ample  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  act  of  Congress,  and  of  a  style  which 
should  not  offend  the  eye.  This  has  been  effected;  a 
contract  has  been  entered  into,  and  a  plan  of  expend- 
iture agreed  upon,  which,  while  the  building  is  grad- 
ually constructed,  will  carry  out  the  plan  to  full  com- 
pletion, and  at  the  end  of  five  years  from  the  time 
of  its  commencement.  So  far  from  having  expended 
the  sum  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  purpose, 
we  shall  have,  after  erecting  the  structure,  providing 
for  its  warming  and  ventilation,  and  the  inclosure  of 
the  grounds,  $140,000  to  return  to  the  principal  sum. 
In  the  mean  while,  we  are  carrying  on  the  operations 
of  the  institution,  stimulating  original  researches, 
publishing  contributions  to  science,  and  gradually  in- 
creasing our  library.  At  the  same  time,  we  pay  our 
debts  as  we  go  on.  This  is,  of  course,  accomplished 
by  using  the  interest  on  the  $240,000  for  the  build- 
ing, and  the  annually  accruing  interest  on  the  prin- 
cipal fund  for  meeting  the  regular  expenses  of  the 
institution. 

The  transactions  of  the  present  year  are  highly  in- 
teresting,  and  will  soon  be  published  in  a  volume, 
which  will  compare  well  with  similar  publications  in 
Europe. 


SMITHSONIAN   INSTITUTION.  123 

With  the  building,  so  far  as  it  has  gone,  all  paid 
for,  and  every  debt  discharged,  we  shall  have  at  the 
end  of  the  year  $10,000  more  than  we  received  from 
Congress. 

Is  there  any  necessity  for  a  standing  committee  of 
this  House  ?  How  is  the  Board  of  Regents  com- 
posed ?  The  act  of  Congress  declares  that  it  shall 
be  constituted  of  the  Vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  the  chief  justice  of  the  United  States,  the 
Mayor  of  the  City  of  Washington,  three  members  of 
the  Senate,  three  members  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, together  with  six  other  persons  not  mem- 
bers of  Congress.  Each  house  of  Congress,  it  will 
be  perceived,  has  three  members  of  the  Board  of  Re- 
gents ;  and  it  is  required  by  law  that  the  Board  shall 
submit  to  Congress  at  each  session  a  report  of  the 
operations,  expenditures,  and  condition  of  the  institu- 
tion. 

At  the  last  session  I  presented  a  full  report,  ac- 
cording to  law,  which  I  now  have  before  me ;  it  was 
printed  and  circulated.  Another  report  is  about  to 
be  presented,  embracing  the  report  of  the  building 
committee,  a  paper  containing  some  three .  hundred 
pages,  full  of  useful  information,  which  I  should  be 
happy  to  see  printed.  Is  it,  then,  necessary  to  ap- 
point a  committee  ?  Is  it  proper  ?  Is  it  becoming  ? 
A  committee  of  this  House  appointed  "to  -superin- 
tend the  affairs  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution!" 
This  committee  will  bring  under  its  supervision  the 
Vice-president  of  the  United  States,  the  chief  justice, 
three  senators,  three  representatives,  and  six  citizens 
at  large,  selected  because  of  then*  character  and  at- 


124  SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION. 

tainments.  May  I  most  respectfully  ask,  Who  will 
superintend  the  affairs  of  that  committee  of  fivet 
Where  is  the  necessity  for  thus  complicating  the  ma- 
chinery of  an  institution  which  ought  to  be  left  to 
enjoy  the  repose  which  science  loves  ? 

I  hope,  sir,  that  this  institution,  so  important  to 
this  country  and  to  mankind,  will  not  be  launched  on 
the  ever-heaving  sea  of  politics.  If  that  should  hap- 
pen, we  should  soon  lose  sight  of  land ;  storms  and 
shipwreck  would  await  us,  and  the  hopes  which 
crowned  our  noble  enterprise  in  its  commencement 
would  perish  with  us. 

I  thank  the  House  for  the  attention  with  which 
they  have  heard  these  remarks ;  it  evinces  the  inter- 
est which  they  feel  in  an  institution  which  claims 
their  protection. 

Mr.  Hilliard  concluded  by  moving  to  lay  the  pro- 
posed rule  on  the  table. 


THE  MISSION  TO  ROME. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  MARCH  4th,  1848. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN, — I  regret,  sir,  that  the  opportunity 
has  not  been  afforded  me  of  replying  to  the  speech  of 
my  honorable  friend  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Levin) 
before  the  present  time.  The  committee  are  now  just 
about  to  vote  on  the  appropriation  which  provides 
the  means  of  opening  diplomatic  intercourse  with  the 
Papal  States.  The  speech  was  remarkable  for  the 
beauty  of  its  language,  and  the  elevated  tone  of  many 
of  its  sentiments ;  but  it  lacked  one  great  quality — 
liberality.  There  was  about  it  nothing  of  toleration. 
It  disclosed  none  of  the  spirit  of  the  beautiful  senti- 
ment of  St.  Augustine :  ' '  Let  there  be  charity  in  all 
things."  I  can  not,  of  course,  within  the  few  minutes 
allowed  me,  attempt  an  elaborate  reply  to  the  speech 
of  the  honorable  gentleman,  but  I  shall  seek  an  ear- 
ly occasion  to  do  so,  when  I  hope  to  be  able  to  show 
that  there  is  much  in  the  present  condition  of  Italy  to 
awaken  the  hopes  of  all  men  who  watch  with  interest 
the  progress  of  reform  throughout  the  world.  In  the 
mean  while,  let  us  not,  in  our  impatience,  forget  that 
there  is  a  mighty  difference  between  reform  and  rev- 
olution. A  reformation  is  brought  about  by  the 
steady  but  gradual  march  of  truth,  while  a  revolu- 
tion, like  the  earthquake,  too  often  upheaves  only  to 
overthrow  and  crush. 


126  THE   MISSION   TO   ROME. 

That  a  reform  is  begun  in  Italy  no  man  can  doubt 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  compare  the  present  po- 
litical state  of  that  country  with  that  which  it  exhib- 
ited previous  to  the  accession  of  the  present  pontiff. 
The  spirit  of  reform  is  thoroughly  roused  in  that  beau- 
tiful and  classic  land.  It  can  never  be  put  down. 
While  a  representative  of  the  freest  government  on 
earth  may  be  well  employed  in  observing  the  progress 
of  liberal  principles  in  that  interesting  and  important 
part  of  Europe,  and  may,  at  the  same  time,  aid  in 
diffusing  a  better  knowledge  of  our  political  system, 
I  can  not  discover  that  we  can  suffer  any  injury  from 
such  an  intercourse. 

In  my  judgment,  sir,  neither  Christianity  nor  free 
principles  have  any  thing  to  fear  from  a  conflict  with 
opposing  powers.  I  would  send  a  minister  to  the  Pa- 
pal States  as  I  would  to  any  other  power ;  I  would 
encourage  every  reform  in  the  government ;  I  would 
cheer  the  friends  of  freedom  in  all  Europe,  by  sending 
a  minister  from  the  United  States  of  America,  where 
the  noblest  toleration  is  granted  to  all  opinions,  to  re- 
side at  a  court  where  hitherto  the  policy  has  been  to 
crush  all  freedom  of  thought  and  action.  It  would 
be  a  spectacle  of  high  moral  interest  to  see  such  a  rep- 
resentative from  republican  America  taking  his  post 
amid  the  ruined  temples  and  arches  of  a  country 
where,  in  other  days,  republican  Home  exhibited  to 
the  world  its  colossal  proportions. 

Sir,  I  do  not  mistake  the  Pope  for  a  Republican; 
far  from  it;  but  I  recognize  him  as  a  reformer.  I 
desire  to  send  to  all  the  states  named  in  this  bill 
ministers  resident  in  the  place  of  charges  des  affaires. 


THE    MISSION    TO    ROME.  127 

They  would  be  accredited  to  the  sovereign,  while 
charges  des  affaires  would  be  accredited  to  the  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs. 

My  honorable  friend  and  myself  do  not  differ  in 
our  horror  of  an  intolerant  and  dangerous  religious 
system,  but  we  do  differ  in  our  views  of  the  true  pol- 
icy to  be  pursued  toward  the  papal  power.  We  both 
desire  to  sustain  the  Bible,  and  to  vindicate  Protest- 
ant Christianity.  I  need  not  say  that  I  am  no  par- 
tisan of  the  Pope;  on  the  contrary,  there  breathes  not 
a  man  whose  sympathy  with  the  Protestant  cause 
beats  stronger  or  quicker  than  my  own.  I  can  never 
forget  its  battles  nor  its  victories,  its  persecutions  nor 
its  triumphs.  But,  sir,  I  solemnly  believe  that  toler- 
ation is  the  wisest  as  well  as  noblest  policy. 

The  gentleman  has  been  so  indiscreet  as  to  men- 
tion the  nineteenth  century.  Sir,  there  has  been  a 
time  when  such  an  argument  as  we  have  heard  to-day 
would  have  been  appropriate.  It  was  that  dark  pe- 
riod when  the  dungeon,  the  Inquisition,  and  the  stake 
claimed  as  victims  all  who  were  convicted  of  heresy 
by  a  tribunal  usurping  the  authority  of  God.  But 
in  this  nineteenth  century  I  am  surprised  to  hear 
such  views  in  an  American  Congress,  from  a  gentle- 
nian  so  enlightened  as  my  friend  from  Pennsylvania. 

He  asks,  What  reforms  has  the  Pope  granted?  I 
answer,  that  he  has  expelled  from  power  a  Secretary 
of  State  distinguished  for  his  despotic  and  harsh 
opinions,  and  put  in  his  place  a  man  of  liberal  views ; 
he  has  thrown  wide  a  door  for  the  admission  of  his 
people,  without  respect  to  rank,  who  may  come  with 
petitions  to  him;  he  has  caused  a  box  to  be  placed 


128  THE   MISSION   TO   ROME. 

in  the  Vatican,  where  all  who  desire  to  submit  their 
complaints  to  his  own  eye  may  deposit  a  statement 
of  their  wrongs ;  he  has  assembled  a  council  to  ad- 
vise him  as  to  the  wants  of  his  people;  and  if  he  had 
done  nothing  more  than  to  transfer  his  alliance  from 
Metternich  to  Louis  Philippe,  I  should  hail  that  as 
a  great  step  in  the  progress  of  reform. 

Hely  upon  it,  sir,  the  spirit  of  reform  is  waked  up 
in  Italy.  It  will  "not  down  at  the  bidding"  of 
armed  and  imperious  Austria,  or  any  other  human 
power.  I  would  send  a  minister  from  this  republic 
to  cheer  it,  to  observe  it,  to  report  its  progress.  That 
spirit  will,  I  trust,  yet  rekindle  the  fires  upon  the  ru- 
ined altars  of  freedom  throughout  Italy. 

Our  true  policy  is  to  extend  our  peaceful  relations 
with  the  world.  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  an 
intercourse  of  that  kind  with  other  powers.  Truth 
is  clad  in  more  than  triple  steel,  and  I  would  bid  her 
spread  her  standard  in  the  very  midst  of  the  world, 
and  take  her  station  in  front  of  the  Vatican.  By 
keeping  the  Papal  See  isolated,  you  strengthen  it. 
It  carries  on  its  agencies  in  secret.  Bring  it  upon 
the  open  field;  do  not  shun  it;  bring  it  into  open  in- 
tercourse with  a  free  Protestant  nation,  and  civil  and 
religious  liberty  will  achieve  new  triumphs. 


A  GOVEKNMENT  FOB,  OEEGON— POLICY 
OP  THE  ADMINISTRATION. 

A  SPEECH   DELIVERED  IN  THE   HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES    OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  MARCH  30th,  1848. 

The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  having  under  considera- 
tion the  bill  to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  in  Oregon,  Mr.  Hilliard  said, 

IN  rising  to  address  the  committee,  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  discuss  the  provisions  of  the  bill  now  before 
you,  but  there  are  some  topics  which  stand  connect- 
ed with  the  general  subject  upon  which  I  desire  to 
give  my  views.  The  bill  provides  for  the  organi- 
zation of  a  territorial  government  for  the  people  of 
Oregon.  It  is  understood  that  negotiations  are  now 
pending  with  Mexico  which  will  probably  result  in 
the  extension  of  our  territorial  possessions.  We  shall 
soon  be  called  on  to  provide  a  government  for  the 
people  of  New  Mexico  and  of  Upper  California.  I 
am  not  anxious  to  engage  in  a  premature  discus- 
sion of  topics  which  must  come  up  when  that  legis- 
lation is  entered  upon.  I  hope  that  the  wisdom  and 
moderation  which  have  been  displayed  heretofore,  in 
dealing  with  great  questions  affecting  the  interests 
of  the  people  of  this  country,  will  characterize  the 
legislation  of  Congress  when  that  measure  comes  up 
for  consideration,  and  that  the  political  rights  of  the 
South  will  be  regarded.  They  must  be ;  the  South 
will  aim  at  no  exclusive  advantages,  nor  will  it  sub- 
mit to  unjust  and  humiliating  restrictions.  The  gen- 

I 


130         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

tleman  who  last  addressed  the  committee  on  this 
question  (Mr.  Smart,  of  Maine)  stated  that  the  war  in 
which  we  have  been  engaged  with  Mexico  was  not 
undertaken  for  the  acquisition  of  territory,  but  to  quiet 
the  title  to  Texas. 

My  honorable  friend  from  Georgia,  too  (Mr.  Cobb), 
some  time  since  endeavored  to  make  it  appear  that  it 
was  impossible  to  condemn  the  act  of  the  President 
in  ordering  the  advance  of  the  army  upon  the  Rio 
Grande,  without  condemning  the  previous  act  of  the 
government  in  annexing  Texas  to  the  United  States, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  including  in  our  censure  the 
act  of  Congress  which  voted  the  supplies  necessary 
to  carry  on  the  war  with  Mexico.  An  honorable 
gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  for  whose  opinions 
I  entertain  a  high  respect  (Mr.  Rhett),  has  entered 
into  an  elaborate  vindication  of  the  policy  of  the  ad- 
ministration, in  which  he  declares  that  the  President 
was  exerting  his  constitutional  functions  in  ordering 
the  army  to  the  Rio  Grande.  Now,  sir,  I  wholly  dis- 
sent from  all  these  views ;  and  I  shall,  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  state  my  objections  to  the  course  of  the  Pres- 
ident and  the  policy  of  his  administration  in  regard 
to  the  Mexican  question.  The  time  has  arrived  when 
we  may  be  permitted  to  survey  the  ground  over  which 
we  have  passed  since  the  opening  of  the  war  with 
Mexico.  Hostilities  are  suspended ;  peace  is  at  hand 
— a  peace  which  is,  I  trust,  to  prove  a  firm  and  last- 
ing one  between  the  two  countries.  It  is  not  my  pur- 
pose to  enter  into  an  elaborate  investigation  of  the 
causes  which  gave  rise  to  the  war ;  that  ground  has 
been  fully  explored,  and  I  should  hardly  hope  to 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.         131 

come  back  with  a  single  discovery.  I  desire,  howev- 
er, to  hold  the  administration  up  to  its  responsibility. 
A  war  may  be  provoked  by  causes  which  would  fully 
justify  it,  and  yet  be  precipitated  by  an  unconstitu- 
tional act.  The  President,  in  ordering  the  army  to  a 
position  on  the  Rio  Grande,  clearly  usurped  powers 
not  conferred  on  him  by  the  Constitution.  Texas 
was  annexed  to  this  country  by  a  resolution  which 
left  the  western  boundary  of  that  state  open,  and  pro- 
vided that  it  should  be  ascertained  and  fixed  by  ne- 
gotiation. ;  ^.i , 

If  the  President  had  become  convinced  that  Mex- 
ico would  decline  that  mode  of  adjustment,  and  had 
satisfied  Congress  that  a  resort  must  be  had  to  arms, 
we  should  have  been  at  liberty  to  claim  the  Rio  Bra- 
vo as  the  western  boundary  of  Texas,  and  to  direct 
the  President  to  throw  in  a  military  force  for  its  de- 
fense. But,  in  the  absence  of  such  a  declaration  on 
the  part  of  Congress,  the  order  of  the  President  to 
General  Taylor  to  take  up  his  position  on  the  banks 
of  that  stream  was  a  gross,  palpable,  violent  usurpa- 
tion of  authority.  No  array  of  grievances  committed 
by  Mexico  against  this  country  will  justify  that  or- 
der ;  no  circumstances  which  existed  could  vindicate 
that  act  of  the  President,  while  they  may  justify  the 
act  of  Congress,  and  vindicate  its  recognition  of  this 
war.  I  do  not  deny  that  there  was  ample  ground 
upon  which  to  rest  a  declaration  of  war  against  Mex- 
ico. I  am  not  disposed  to  deny  that  there  were  hos- 
tile threats  and  warlike  preparations  on  the  part  of 
that  republic ;  but  I  do  deny  that  the  President  had 
any  constitutional  authority  whatever  to  decide  the 


132         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

question  of  peace  or  war.  That  was  a  question  for 
the  decision  of  Congress;  the  Constitution  lodged 
there  the  authority  to  pass  upon  so  momentous  an 
issue ;  and  the  act  of  the  President,  in  deciding  that 
the  western  boundary  of  Texas  must  be  settled  by 
arms,  and  not  by  negotiation,  stands  out  as  a  bold 
usurpation  of  power  which  no  circumstances  can  just- 
ify or  excuse. 

Still,  this  is  purely  a  domestic  question,  and  can 
not  affect  our  relations  with  Mexico.  It  was  an  ill- 
advised  step,  invited  attack,  and  led  to  hostilities. 
Congress  thought  proper  to  recognize  these  hostilities 
as  acts  of  war ;  and  I  felt  at  liberty  to  vote  the  sup- 
plies necessary  to  carry  on  the  war  thus  brought  on, 
though  I  condemned  the  course  of  the  President.  I 
am  not,  however,  ready  at  this  time  to  vote  for  rais- 
ing the  ten  additional  regiments  which  the  President 
asks  for.  I  am  amazed  that  gentlemen  should  press 
the  bill  at  a  moment  like  this.  Has  there  not  been 
enough  of  war — enough  of  its  pomp  and  circumstance 
— enough  of  its  expense  ?  With  a  good  prospect  for 
peace,  must  the  country  be  again  plunged,  by  reck- 
less obedience  to  the  demands  of  the  President,  into 
this  wasteful  expenditure?  Some  gentlemen,  too, 
seem  uneasy  at  voting  against  taking  the  bill  up  out 
of  its  order.  The  time  has  gone  by  for  such  appre- 
hensions ;  the  war  has  become  odious  to  the  people ; 
the  country  desires  peace.  The  President  has  gone 
down  in  the  contest ;  and,  though  he  still  rides  along 
the  lines,  and  strives  to  animate  his  followers  to  new 
struggles,  he  has  none  of  the  energy  and  power  of 
manhood  left  him. 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.          133 

"  The  times  have  been, 

That  when  the  brains  were  out  the  man  would  die, 
And  there  an  end ;  but  now  they  rise  again, 
With  twenty  mortal  murders  on  their  crowns, 
And  push  us  from  our  stools." 

What  induced  the  President  to  seize  this  power 
which  did  not  belong  to  him  ?  Was  there  danger  of 
invasion?  No.  There  were  no  settlements  along 
the  country  bordering  on  the  Rio  Bravo  to  defend. 
So  far  as  any  thing  American  was  concerned,  it  was 
as  destitute  of  life  as  the  Carnatic  after  the  descent 
of  Hyder  Ali,  as  described  by  Burke  in  his  celebrated 
speech  on  the  Nabob  of  Arco^s  debts. 

You  might  traverse  the  whole  region  and  not  see 
one  man,  not  one  woman,  not  one  child,  not  one  four- 
footed  beast  of  any  description  whatever.  Yet  the 
friends  of  the  President  seek  to  justify  his  rash  order 
for  the  advance  of  the  army  by  persuading  us  that  it 
was  determined  on  under  the  apprehension  of  threat- 
ened invasion.  There  must  have  been  some  other 
consideration — some  ulterior,  undisclosed  object  which 
the  President  had  in  view. 

By  referring  to  the  correspondence  which  took 
place  between  the  Secretary  of  War  and  General 
Taylor,  it  will  be  perceived  that,  as  early  as  the  15th 
of  June,  1845,  Mr.  Bancroft,  while  in  temporary 
charge  of  the  War  Department,  wrote  to  the  com- 
manding general  in  terms  which  would  have  author- 
ized him  at  that  time  to  pitch  his  tents  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rio  Bravo. 

On  the  30th  of  the  succeeding  month  the  Secretary 
of  War  wrote  to  him  in  similar  terms : 

"The  Rio  Grande  is  claimed  to  be  the  boundary 


134         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

between  the  two  countries,  and  up  to  this  boundary 
you  are  to  extend  your  protection,  only  excepting 
any  posts  on  the  eastern  side  thereof  which  are  in  the 
actual  occupancy  of  Mexican  forces  or  Mexican  set- 
tlements, over  which  the  Republic  of  Texas  did  not 
exercise  jurisdiction  at  the  period  of  annexation,  or 
shortly  before  that  event.  It  is  expected  that,  in  se- 
lecting the  establishment  for  your  troops,  you  will 
approach  as  near  the  boundary  line,  the  Rio  Grande, 
as  prudence  will  dictate." 

On  the  16th  of  October  following,  the  Secretary  of 
War  again  writes  to  this  officer : 

"The  information  which  we  have  received  here 
renders  it  probable  that  no  serious  attempts  will  at 
present  be  made  by  Mexico  to  invade  Texas,  although 
she  continues  to  threaten  incursions.  Previous  in- 
structions will  have  put  you  in  possession  of  the 
views  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  not 
only  as  to  the  extent  of  its  territorial  claims,  but  of 
its  determination  to  assert  them.  *  *  *  You  will 
approach  as  near  the  western  boundary  of  Texas  (the 
Rio  Grande)  as  circumstances  will  permit,  having 
reference  to  reasonable  security,  to  accommodations 
for  putting  your  troops  into  winter  huts,  if  deemed 
necessary,  to  the  facility  and  certainty  of  procuring 
or  receiving  supplies,  and  to  checking  any  attempted 
incursions  by  the  Mexican  forces  on  the  Indian  tribes. " 
Here,  then,  the  Secretary  of  War,  at  a  time  when 
there  was  no  serious  apprehension  of  an  invasion  of 
Texas  by  a  Mexican  force,  directs  General  Taylor  to 
approach  as  near  the  Rio  Grande  as  circumstances 
will  permit.  He  is  informed  in  the  same  letter  that 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.         135 

he  need  not  wait  for  instructions  from  Washington 
to  carry  out  what  he  might  deem  proper  to  be  done. 
Still,  General  Taylor  did  not  advance,  until,  on  the 
13th  of  January,  1846,  the  positive,  decisive,  fatal  or- 
der was  sent  to  him  to  take  a  position  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Rio  Grande : 

u  I  am  directed  by  the  President  to  instruct  you  to 
advance  and  occupy,  with  the  troops  under  your  com- 
mand, positions  on  or  near  the  ,east  bank  of  the  Hio 
del  Norte  as  soon  as  it  can  be  conveniently  done  with 
reference  to  the  season  and  the  routes  by  which  your 
movements  must  be  made." 

Point  Isabel,  and  points  opposite  Matamoras  and 
Mier,  in  the  vicinity  of  Laredo,  are  named  as  suita- 
ble places  for  taking  up  his  position. 

The  order  of  the  government  was  obeyed.  Gen- 
eral Taylor  advanced  upon  Point  Isabel,  and  took  a 
position  opposite  Matamoras. 

Doubtless  the  President  acted  upon  the  idea  that 
a  feeble  people  were  likely  to  be  yielding  in  negotia- 
tion when  an  army  hung  upon  and  threatened  their 
exposed  frontier.  He  disregarded  the  noble  Koman 
maxim, 

"  Parcere  subjectis,  debellare  superbos." 

Hence,  when  a  minister  was  sent  to  negotiate,  an 
army  was  ordered  to  take  possession  of  the  very  ter- 
ritory which  was  to  be  the  subject  of  negotiation,  and 
a  fleet  hovered  upon  the  coast  of  a  province  which 
that  minister  was  instructed  to  purchase.  If  the 
force  had  been  great  enough,  the  policy  might  have 
been  successful ;  but  our  small  army  invited  attack 
from  its  apparent  helplessness. 


136         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

There  was  something  beyond  the  mere  wish  to  qui- 
et the  title  to  Texas  which  the  President  had  in  view 
when  he  ordered  the  army  to  the  Rio  Bravo.  He 
had  just  fallen  back  in  inglorious  retreat  through  five 
parallels  of  latitude  on  the  Pacific  coast  before  the 
most  formidable  power  on  the  globe,  and  his  aim  ev- 
idently was  to  illustrate  his  administration  by  acquir- 
ing the  northern  provinces  of  Mexico.  Phaeton  was 
the  reputed  son  of  Phoebus,  and,  when  his  paternity 
was  questioned,  he  visited  the  palace  of  the  Sun,  that 
he  might  prevail  on  his  father  to  give  him  the  means 
of  proving  his  illustrious  descent.  Phoebus  allowed 
him  to  drive  his  chariot  for  a  day,  and  instructed  him 
how  to  proceed  through  the  regions  of  the  air ;  but 
the  feeble  hand  of  Phaeton  could  not  guide  the  flying 
horses  ;  they  departed  from  their  track ;  heaven  &nd 
earth  were  threatened  with  conflagration,  and  order 
could  not  be  restored  until  a  bolt  from  the  hand  of 
Jupiter  hurled  the  adventurous  charioteer  from  his 
seat.  The  President,  in  his  eagerness  to  vindicate 
his  claim  to  the  high  station  which  he  fills,  ventured 
upon  a  policy  which  has  brought  about  similar  con- 
fusion. General  Jackson's  tone  toward  France,  which 
fortunately  resulted  in  no  mischief,  was  assumed  by 
Mr.  Polk  in  his  negotiations  with  Great  Britain  upon 
the  Oregon  question,  and  we  narrowly  escaped  war. 
It  was  employed  against  a  feeble  power  with  greater 
confidence  of  success.  The  President  had  set  his 
heart  upon  acquiring  New  Mexico  and  California, 
and  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  most  successful  mode 
of  persuading  Mexico  to  yield  them  up  would  be  to 
station  an  army  on  her  frontier  and  a  fleet  on  her 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.         137 

coast.  That  this  was  the  aim  of  the  President  will 
clearly  appear  when  the  instructions  given  to  Mr. 
Slidell  are  made  public.  He  was  sent  to  Mexico, 
not  simply  as  a  commissioner  to  settle  open  questions, 
and  especially  to  fix  the  western  boundary  of  Tex- 
as, but  it  seems  that  he  was  instructed  to  spread  be- 
fore the  Mexican  government  powerful  considerations 
for  giving  up  the  desired  provinces.  As  to  New 
Mexico,  Mr.  Slidell  was  probably  instructed  to  urge 
upon  the  Mexican  government  that  it  ought  to  be- 
long to  the  United  States,  a  great  portion  of  it  lying 
on  this  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  included  within 
the  limits  already  claimed  by  Texas ;  it  was,  too,  a 
remote  and  detached  province,  the  possession  of  which 
could  not  be  advantageous  to  that  country;  but,  if 
given  up,  she  would  be  relieved  from  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  defending  the  inhabitants  against  the  In- 
dians. From  these  and  other  considerations,  it  was 
clear  that  New  Mexico  ought  to  belong  to  the  United 
States. 

Nor  was  California  to  be  overlooked;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  was  no  doubt  an  important  object  of  Mr. 
SlidelFs  mission  to  secure  a  large  part  of  that  prov- 
ince. The  possession  of  the  bay  and  harbor  of  San 
Francisco  was  regarded  as  all  important  to  the  Unit- 
ed States ;  it  was  believed,  too,  that  the  Mexican  gov- 
ernment had  but  a  slight  hold  on  California,  and  that 
they  would  readily  relinquish  that  hold  for  a  suffi^ 
cient  consideration. 

It  is  easy  to  trace  the  object  of  the  administration; 
it  is  impossible  to  mistake  it:  the  main  business  of 
Mr.  Slidell  was  to  acquire  New  Mexico  ajid  Califor- 


138         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

ma.  A  fleet  had  sailed  for  the  Pacific;  the  instruc- 
tions which  the  commander  bore  disclosed  the  pur- 
pose of  the  government.  Upper  California  was  to 
be  taken;  it  was  to  be  held;  it  was,  under  no  circum- 
stances, to  be  given  up ;  we  were  to  be  found  in  pos- 
session of  it  at  the  close  of  the  war,  so  that  if  a  treaty 
of  peace  should  be  made  upon  the  basis  of  the  uti 
possidetis,  we  might  retain  it. 

General  Kearney  was  sent  to  take  possession  of 
New  Mexico,  and  he  was  instructed  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  assure  the  people  of  that  province  that  it 
was  the  wish  and  design  of  the  United  States  to  pro- 
vide for  them  a  free  government  with  the  least  pos- 
sible delay,  similar  to  that  which  exists  in  our  Terri- 
tories. They  were  then  to  exercise  the  rights  of  free- 
men by  electing  their  own  representatives  to  the  Ter- 
ritorial Legislature.  The  war  has  been  prosecuted 
throughout  for  the  purpose  of  securing  New  Mexico 
and  California.  There  has  not  been  a  moment  since 
its  commencement  when  the  administration  would 
have  concluded  a  peace  on  any  other  terms.  It  was 
for  this  that  General  Taylor  was  ordered  to  advance 
beyond  the  Rio  Grande  after  he  had  scattered  the 
Mexican  army  in  hopeless  confusion,  and  to  range 
his  victorious  troops  along  the  Sierra  Madre.  The 
President  at  one  time  disclaimed  any  such  purpose ; 
but  in  his  last  annual  message  he  employs  no  equiv- 
ocal language.  Referring  to  his  former  declaration 
respecting  the  war,  he  says, 

uln  my  annual  message  to  Congress  of  December 
last,  I  declared  that  the  war  had  not  been  waged  with 
a  view  to  conquest,  but,  having  been  commenced  by 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.         139 

Mexico,  it  has  been  carried  into  the  enemy's  country, 
and  will  be  vigorously  prosecuted  there  with  a  view 
to  obtain  an  honorable  peace,  and  thereby  secure  am- 
ple indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  as  well  as 
to  our  much-injured  citizens  who  hold  large  pecuniary 
demands  against  Mexico.  *  *  It  has  never  been 
contemplated  by  me,  as  an  object  of  the  war,  to  make 
a  permanent  conquest  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  or 
to  annihilate  her  separate  existence  as  an  independ- 
ent nation." 

The  disclaimer  now,  it  will  be  observed,  is  as  to 
the  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  is  not  applied  to  the  cov- 
eted provinces.  On  the  contrary,  he  boldly  discloses 
his  purpose  to  hold  them  in  right  of  conquest : 

uln  the  mean  time,  as  Mexico  refuses  all  indem- 
nity, we  should  adopt  measures  to  indemnify  our- 
selves, by  appropriating  permanently  a  portion  of 
her  territory.  Early  after  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  New  Mexico  and  the  Californias  were  taken 
possession  of  by  our  forces.  Our  military  and  na- 
val commanders  were  ordered  to  conquer  and  hold 
them,  subject  to  be  disposed  of  by  a  treaty  of  peace. 
These  provinces  are  now  in  our  undisputed  occupa- 
tion, and  have  been  so  for  many  months,  all  resist- 
ance on  the  part  of  Mexico  having  ceased  within 
their  limits.  I  am  satisfied  that  they  should  never 
be  surrendered  to  Mexico." 

He  advises  Congress  to  extend  over  them  the  ju- 
risdiction and  laws  of  the  United  States  at  once,  and 
insists  that  we  ought  not  to  wait  for  a  treaty  of  peace, 
but  consider  them  at  once  as  constituent  parts  of  our 
country.  The  President  is,  in  some  respects,  a  bold 


140         A  GOVERNMENT  FOE  OREGON. 

man;  for  in  his  annual  message,  upon  which  I  am 
remarking,  he  asserts  that  CONGRESS  contemplated  the 
acquisition  of  territorial  indemnity  when  that  body 
made  provision  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  In 
seeking  indemnity,  he  insists  that  the  acquisition  of 
territory  was  inevitable.  It  is  impossible,  sir,  to  ob- 
serve the  course  of  this  administration  without  per- 
ceiving that  their  object,  from  the  first  moment  when 
they  began  to  deal  with  the  Mexican  question,  was 
the  acquisition  of  the  northern  provinces  of  Mexico. 
These  were  to  be  torn  from  the  central  government, 
and  held  as  the  spoils  of  war.  This  is  the  meaning 
of  indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for  the  future 
— a  phrase  used  as  early  as  June,  1846,  in  a  procla- 
mation sent  out  to  General  Taylor. 

It  requires  no  publication  of  secret  instructions  to 
demonstrate  this.  The  President  informs  us,  in  his 
last  annual  message,  that  the  commissioner  sent  out 
to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  was  authorized  to  agree 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Hio  Grande  as  the  bound- 
ary, from  its  entrance  into  the  Gulf  to  its  intersec- 
tion with  the  southern  boundary  of  New  Mexico,  in 
north  latitude  about  thirty-two  degrees,  and  to  ob- 
tain a  cession  to  the  United  States  of  the  provinces 
of  New  Mexico  and  the  Californias,  and  the  privilege 
of  the  right  of  way  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuante- 
pec.  The  boundary  of  the  Bio  Grande,  and  the  ces- 
sion to  the  United  States  of  New  Mexico  and  Upper 
California,  constituted  an  ultimatum  which  our  com- 
missioner was,  under  no  circumstances,  to  yield. 

No  one  who  thus  traces  the  course  of  the  adminis- 
tration can  be  at  any  loss  to  account  for  the  order 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.         141 

which  sent  the  American  army  to  take  a  position  on 
the  Rio  Grande.  The  country  bordering  on  that 
stream  was  to  be  acquired ;  New  Mexico  and  Cali- 
fornia were  to  be  secured.  This  was  an  ultimatum 
to  be  yielded  under  no  circumstances ;  it  was  intend- 
ed to  be  accomplished  from  the  beginning,  and  the 
administration  thought  it  a  masterly  policy  to  help 
the  commissioner  who  was  sent  to  negotiate  for  this 
territory  by  marching  an  army  to  intimidate  the  gov- 
ernment with  which  he  was  treating. 

This  object,  so  steadily  kept  in  view  by  the  admin- 
istration, is  about  to  be  accomplished.  If  the  treaty 
which  has  gone  out  to  the  Mexican  government 
should  be  ratified,  the  Rio  Grande  becomes  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  Texas,  and  New  Mexico  and  Upper 
California  will  be  added  to  our  territorial  posses- 
sions ;  at  least  we  get  all  New  Mexico,  and  so  much 
of  California  as  lies  north  of  the  River  Gila,  and  a 
line  drawn  from  its  intersection  with  the  Colorado 
to  a  point  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  south  of  San  Diego. 
If  we  had  acquired  the  fabled  garden  of  the  Hesper- 
ides,  the  President  could  hardly  be  more  full  of  ex- 
ultation. It  is  worth  while  to  inquire  for  a  moment 
what  this  territory  is  worth.  The  strip  of  country 
which  fringes  the  Rio  Grande  can  not  be  very  valu- 
able. The  population  is  said  to  be  sparse,  and  the 
crops  are  uncertain. 

New  Mexico  is  described  as  a  region  wholly  un- 
suited  to  an  agricultural  population.  Lofty  and  rug- 
ged mountains,  narrow  and  poor  valleys,  make  up  its 
great  features,  while  an  absence  of  water  and  of  wood 
complete  its  uninviting  aspect.  A  large  portion  is 


142         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

said  to  be  made  up  "of  rocks,  sands,  and  desert 
wastes.'1  It  sustains  a  scattered  and  miserable  pop- 
ulation. Let  us,  however,  take  its  value  as  estimated 
by  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  is  understood  to  have 
authorized  Mr.  Slidell  to  offer  for  it  five  millions  of 
dollars. 

The  most  intelligent  travelers  who  have  visited 
Upper  California  agree  in  describing  it  as  a  country 
wholly  destitute  of  attractions  for  a  people  like  our 
own.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  country  is  rep- 
resented as  unfit  for  cultivation,  and  incapable  of 
supporting  any  dense  population.  Those  parts  of  it 
which  are  susceptible  of  agriculture  must  be  subject- 
ed to  it  by  irrigation.  It  has  none  of  the  resources 
which  invite  or  encourage  commerce.  The  most  val- 
uable acquisition  is  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  ;  this 
will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  give  increased  security  to  our 
Pacific  commerce.  I  am  not  disposed  to  depreciate 
its  value,  nor  will  I  introduce  statements  respecting 
it  which  might  have  this  effect.  Let  us  take  Mr. 
Buchanan's  estimate  of  the  value  of  Upper  Califor- 
nia, embracing  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  which  is 
understood  to  be  fifteen  millions  of  dollars ;  while  for 
an  extension  of  this  line  on  the  Pacific,  so  as  to  take 
in  Monterey,  the  administration  authorized  an  offer 
of  five  millions  more. 

Of  what  possible  advantage  can  this  extension  of 
our  territorial  possessions  be  to  us  ?  The  Bay  of  San 
Francisco,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  important  to  us 
in  a  commercial  view;  and  the  barren  regions  of  New 
Mexico  and  Upper  California  will  form  a  boundary 
over  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  our  spreading  popula- 


A   GOVERNMENT  FOE   OREGON  143 

tion  will  not  be  inclined  to  pass.  But  what  do  we 
pay  for  it  ?  Upward  of  twenty  millions  of  dollars  in 
cash,  besides  the  whole  expenses  of  the  war,  which 
will  probably  swell  the  amount  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions.  Compare  this  with  the  amount  paid 
by  us  for  Louisiana.  We  gave  for  the  rich  and  ex- 
tensive territory  included  under  that  name  eighty 
millions  of  francs — about  fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 
It  was  essential  to  us ;  it  completed  the  compactness 
of-  our  territorial  possessions ;  it  gave  us  the  com- 
mand of  the  entrance  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  over- 
looking every  other  feature,  its  importance  may  be 
estimated  by  a  single  glance  at  New  Orleans.  There 
is  a  great  city,  rapidly  growing  in  population  and 
wealth;  a  magnificent  emporium  of  commerce,  re- 
ceiving the  productions  of  a  continent,  and  sending 
them  out  through  all  the  world.  Set  down  the  cost 
of  that  immense  and  fertile  territory  by  the  side  of 
the  sum  which  we  are  to  pay  for  our  new  acquisition, 
and  you  will  be  prepared  to  estimate  the  advantage 
which  the  policy  of  this  administration  has  conferred 
upon  the  country. 

But  there  is  another  element  of  cost  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  this  new  territory  which  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten. Louisiana  was  acquired  by  negotiation ;  it  was 
acquired  in  peace ;  it  came  to  us  a  purchase.  But, 
in  addition  to  the  enormous  outlay  of  money  to  which 
we  are  subjected  by  the  policy  of  the  administration 
in  acquiring  our  new  territorial  possessions,  we  yield 
up  twenty-five  thousand  human  lives.  The  treaty 
which  secures  to  us  this  territory  is  stained  with  blood. 
There  is,  too,  yet  another  sacrifice  which  we  make  in 


144         A  GOVERNMENT  FOE  OREGON. 

securing  these  coveted  provinces — a  sacrifice  of  the 
most  costly  kind — I  mean,  the  loss  of  national  char- 
acter. With  our  ample  resources,  we  shall  soon  re- 
plenish our  empty  treasury,  and  our  vigorous  popu- 
lation will  hardly  feel  the  check  given  to  it  by  the 
loss  of  twenty-five  thousand  of  our  people ;  but  when 
will  the  character  of  the  nation  recover  from  the 
wound  which  it  has  received  ?  What  art  can  relieve 
the  national  escutcheon  from  "the  spots"  which  stain 
it  ?  We  have  received  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic  the  tidings  of  a  convulsion  which  has  over- 
turned a  throne ;  an  enthusiastic  people,  our  former 
allies,  long  accustomed  to  admire  our  institutions, 
have  established  a  republic.  Our  example  has  been 
felt  throughout  the  world ;  the  high  career  which  we 
have  heretofore  pursued,  the  glorious  example  of  reg- 
ulated liberty  which  we  have  exhibited,  the  magna- 
nimity which  has  marked  our  intercourse  with  other 
nations — all  this  has  awakened  throughout  the  world 
the  noblest  hopes.  But  we  now  turn  from  this  high 
career ;  we  carry  our  eagles  in  triumph  over  a  neigh- 
boring and  feeble  people,  and  we  wrest  from  them 
provinces  which  they  are  reluctant  to  surrender.  The 
example  is  a  fatal  one,  and  its  influence  upon  the 
world  must  be  disastrous.  Say  what  we  may,  this  is 
a  conquest ;  the  Mexican  government  is  driven  from 
place  to  place,  hunted  down,  overthrown,  and  then  a 
bastard  treaty  is  negotiated,  which  is  helped  forward 
by  the  bayonet  and  the  purse,  bribery  being  called  in 
to  accomplish  what  force  could  not  effect.  Against 
this  mode  of  acquiring  territory  I  solemnly  protest. 
I  do  not  object  to  the  extension  of  our  institutions, 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.          145 

nor  am  I  troubled  with  those  apprehensions  which 
seem  to  haunt  the  minds  of  some  gentlemen  in  regard 
to  this  subject.  There  is  a  principle  belonging  to 
our  system  of  confederated  states  which  will  bear  ex- 
pansion ;  it  can  grasp  a  continent.  Steam  and  the 
telegraph  have  so  increased  the  means  of  communica- 
tion, that  the  utmost  points  of  our  wide  land  are 
brought  into  the  relations  of  neighborhood.  But  let 
this  growth  of  our  institutions  be  spontaneous  and 
gradual,  and  let  neighboring  provinces  seek  to  oome 
within  the  sheltering  sanctity  of  our  government. 

This,  then,  is  the  achievement  of  the  administra- 
tion ;  upon  this  acquisition  of  territory  it  rests  its 
fame.  What  other  public  benefit  can  it  claim  to  have 
conferred  upon  the  country  ?  Has  it  done  any  thing 
toward  developing  the  resources  of  the  nation  ?  Has 
it  done  any  thing  for  the  commerce,  the  agriculture, 
or  the  industry  of  our  people  ?  To  what  single  mon- 
ument of  its  wisdom,  its  energy,  or  its  enterprise  can 
it  point?  No  improvements  have  grown  up  under 
its  hand ;  it  has  brought  upon  the  people  the  demor- 
alizing influence  of  war,  and  it  has  entailed  upon  the 
country  an  immense  public  debt.  Suppose  it  had 
pursued  a  career  of  peace,  how  much  greater  would 
be  our  prosperity  at  the  present  moment.  The  vast 
sums  expended  in  war  would  have  been  saved ;  we 
should  have  been  free  from  debt,  and  the  very  terri- 
tory which  we  are  about  to  acquire  at  so  great  an  ex- 
penditure of  money,  and  life,  and  character,  might 
have  been  purchased  for  an  inconsiderable  sum. 

I  am  not  insensible  to  the  military  glory  which  our 
arms  have  won  in  the  late  war  with  Mexico.  The 

K 


146         A  GOVERNMENT  FOE  OREGON. 

brilliant  achievements  of  our  armies  will  compare 
well  with  those  of  any  age  or  any  nation.  The  blend, 
ed  courage  and  skill  of  our  officers,  and  the  indomi- 
table ardor  of  our  troops,  have  illustrated  the  Amer- 
ican name.  But  how  was  this  glory  earned  ?  Not 
by  the  administration,  but  in  spite  of  the  administra- 
tion ;  as  Colonel  Barre  declared  of  the  American  col- 
onies in  the  great  struggle  for  independence,  when  it 
was  said  that  they  had  been  planted  and  nourished 
by  the  care  of  the  mother  country,  "They  planted 
by  your  care !  They  have  grown  and  prospered  in 
spite  of  your  care." 

The  fostering  hand  of  this  administration  might 
well  have  crushed  an  army  of  less  vigorous  materials. 
The  officers  in  command  have  been  watched  with  a 
jealousy  which  lost  no  occasion  to  exhibit  itself.  The 
army  under  General  Taylor,  after  the  splendid  victo- 
ries of  Palo  Alto,  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  overcom- 
ing every  obstacle,  making  up  with  their  own  energies 
for  the  want  of  the  means  of  transportation,  marched 
against  Monterey,  a  walled  city  of  immense  strength, 
defended  by  a  much  greater  force  than  that  which 
attacked  it,  assaulted  and  carried  it,  and  their  victo- 
rious leader  was  rewarded  by  the  censure  of  an  ad- 
ministration which,  overlooking  all  the  glory  of  such 
exploits,  hastened  to  condemn  an  act  which  secured 
complete  possession  of  the  place — an  act  which  was 
characterized  by  a  wisdom  and  humanity  hardly  less 
admirable  than  the  courage  and  firmness  of  the  illus- 
trious captain  who  performed  it.  Deprived  of  his 
regular  troops,  he  was  left  in  an  advanced  and  ex- 
posed position,  when,  with  a  little  army  made  up  al- 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON.          147 

most  wholly  of  volunteers,  he  received  the  shock  of 
battle  from  a  Mexican  army  twenty  thousand  strong, 
led  by  Santa  Anna  in  person,  and  repulsed  them. 
How  much  of  the  glory  of  Buena  Vista  is  due  to  the 
administration  ? 

Another  distinguished  officer,  of  splendid  abilities, 
invested  and  took  Yera  Cruz  and  the  Castle  of  San 
Juan  de  Ulloa,  exhibiting  the  highest  military  skill ; 
pressing  on  to  Cerro  Gordo,  he  won  a  brilliant  vic- 
tory; and  the  government,  busy  with  its  fostering 
care,  objected  to  the  disposition  which  he  made  of  his 
prisoners. 

Advancing  upon  the  capital;  meeting  and  over- 
coming obstacles  in  his  march  which  remind  us  of 
the  exploits  of  Cortes,  he  carries,  with  a  small  army, 
the  city  of  Mexico  ;  and  while  the  world  is  resound- 
ing with  the  fame  of  those  achievements,  Scott  is  re- 
moved from  the  command  of  an  army  which  he  had 
led  through  these  successive  victories,  and  called  to 
appear  before  a  court  of  inquiry. 

But,  sir,  this  administration  is  passing  away ;  its 
days  are  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close.  Let  it  go;  it 
has  lost  the  opportunity  of  doing  good,  and,  I  fear, 
has  done  great  mischief.  A  young  Frenchman  called 
on  Louis  XIV.  when  that  monarch  had  reached  an 
advanced  age,  and  asked  him  to  confer  an  appoint- 
ment on  him.  The  monarch  exclaimed  impatiently, 
uYou  shall  never  have  it  while  I  live."  "Very 
Veil,  sire,"  replied  the  young  gentleman,  "I  can  af- 
ford to  wait."  » 

The  country  is  young  and  vigorous,  and  will  out- 
live a  bad  administration;  it  can  afford  to  wait;  but 


148         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

the  administration  leaves  us  a  most  unenviable  her- 
itage in  its  history.  In  speaking  of  it,  one  is  almost 
ready  to  borrow  Macauley's  description  of  the  reign 
of  Charles  II. :  "Those  are  days  which  can  never  be 
recalled  without  a  blush — days  of  dwarfish  talents 
and  gigantic  vices." 

Let  us  turn  from  the  past  and  look  to  the  future. 
The  party  opposed  to  the  administration  will  proba- 
.bly  come  into  power.  We  certainly  shall,  if  we  do 
not  throw  away  our  advantages.  The  time  has  come 
when  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  desire  to  see 'one  elevated  to  the  pres- 
idency who  holds  himself  uncommitted  to  mere  party 
measures,  and  looks  out  upon  a  horizon  wide  enough 
to  embrace  his  whole  country.  The  country  has  suf- 
fered from  the  fierce  collision  of  parties,  and  its  great 
interests  are  passed  upon  by  irresponsible  bodies, 
calling  themselves  conventions,  which  sketch  not  only 
the  plan  of  a  political  campaign,  but  lay  down  the 
principles  which  shall  govern  an  administration. 

I  rejoice  that  one  man  has  been  found  in  the  coun- 
try with  courage  enough  to  refuse  to  lend  himself  to 
the  advancement  of  mere  party  schemes,  and  who, 
following  the  great  example  of  Washington,  will  ad- 
minister the  government  for  the  good  of  the  people 
of  the  whole  country.  We  have  always  denounced 
&  president  who  could  never  forget  that  he  belonged 
to  a  party,  or  rise  to  the  enlarged  patriotism  which 
ought  to  characterize  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
United  States,  and  yet  some  object  te  the  noble  po- 
sition which  General  Taylor  takes  when  he  refuses  to 
practice  the  supple  subserviency  of  a  partisan.  I  re- 


A  GOVERNMENT  FOB  OREGON.         149 

gard  that  position  with  unqualified  admiration.  He 
does  not  deny  his  identity  with  the  Whig  party. 
He  declares  his  unwillingness  to  conceal  that  fact 
from  the  American  people.  He  frankly  avows  his 
desire  to  see  some  of  the  eminent  men  of  that  party 
elected  to  the  presidency;  but  he  refuses,  with  .true 
dignity,  to  allow  others  to  extort  from  him  pledges, 
or  to  undertake  to  carry  out  any  set  of  measures 
which  others  may  wish  to  impose  on  him.  To  bor- 
row his  own  language,  he  "asks  no  favor  and  shrinks 
from  no  responsibility."  He  does  not  court  popular 
favor.  He  remains  in  the  quiet  discharge  of  his  du- 
ties, and  leaves  the  people  to  decide  as  they  may 
think  best  whether  he  shall  be  called  to  administer 
the  government,  or  left  in  the  station  which  he  now 
fills,  and  which  he  has  rendered  so  illustrious. 

Such  a  course  presents  a  broad  contrast  to  that 
which  is  sometimes  pursued  by  aspirants  to  the  pres- 
idency, who  traverse  sea  and  land  to  make  proselytes, 
and  bid  for  the  purple  by  committing  themselves  to 
the  favorite  schemes  of  different  latitudes. 

Such  ambition  sometimes  overleaps  itself.  The 
support  which  the  popular  sentiment  of  the  country 
gives  to  General  Taylor's  noble  position  is  a  cheering 
indication.  It  is  full  of  promise  for  the  future,  and 
reminds  us  of  earlier  and  better  days.  I  believe  that 
the  people  will  bear  him  triumphantly  into  the  pres- 
idency. He  will  administer  the  government  with  a 
strict  regard  to  the  Constitution;  he  will  call  into 
his  cabinet  the  ablest  of  his  political  friends ;  he  will 
arrest  the  demoralizing  practice  of  expelling  good 
men  from  the  subordinate  offices  to  put  ultra  parti- 


150         A  GOVERNMENT  FOR  OREGON. 

sans  in  their  place,  and  will  return  to  the  better  rule 
of  inquiring  as  to  applicants,  "Is  he  honest?  Is  he 
capable?"  He  will  restore  the  great  principles  which 
belonged  to  the  early  republican  administrations,  and 
will  guide  the  country  into  a  high  career  of  prosper- 
ity and  glory. 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

A   SPEECH  DELIVERED   IN  THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE 
UNITED  STATES,  APRIL  3d,  1848. 

MR.  SPEAKER, — In  moving  to  refer  the  resolutions 
and  amendments  which  have  been  brought  forward 
upon  the  subject  of  the  late  Revolution  in  France  to 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  of  which  I  am  a 
member,  I  simply  desire  to  secure  a  proper  expression 
of  the  sympathy  which  we  feel  in  that  movement. 
The  occasion  is  one  of  no  common  moment ;  it  must 
deeply  aifect  the  cause  of  mankind  throughout  the 
world.  I  am  not  ready  to  extend  the  sympathy  of 
this  government  to  any  people  who  simply  overturn 
a  throne  to  plunge  into  the  wild,  unrestricted,  and 
reckless  experiment  of  ideal  liberty.  Every  kingless 
government  is  not  of  necessity  a  republican  govern- 
ment. Liberty  can  not  exist  without  law;  its  ele- 
ments must  be  consolidated,  and  its  great  principles 
be  embodied  in  a  Constitution.  The  great  movement 
in  France  must  develop  institutions  before  it  accom- 
plishes any  permanent  good  for  the  French  people. 
I  confess  that  I  am  not  free  from  apprehension  as  to 
the  future ;  the  convulsion  which  exhibits  a  form  so 
attractive  to-day,  may  yet  upturn  the  foundations  of 
society,  and  result  in  the  wildest  anarchy.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is,  in  the  great  popular  movement 
which  has  so  suddenly  and  so  successfully  expelled 
royalty  from  France,  much  of  promise  for  that  beau- 


152  THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION. 

tiful  country  and  for  mankind.  I  solemnly  believe 
that  the  time  has  come  when  kingcraft  has  lost  its 
hold  upon  the  human  mind.  The  world  is  waking 
from  its  deep  slumber,  and  mankind  begin  to  see 
that  the  right  to  govern  belongs  not  to  crowned  kings, 
but  to  the  great  masses.  The  age  in  which  we  live 
will,  I  trust,  witness  the  complete  enfranchisement  of 
nations  which  have  long  been  governed  too  much. 

I  think,  sir,  that  we  ought  to  sustain  our  minister 
(Mr.  Bush),  who  so  promptly,  without  the  opportu- 
nity of  consulting  his  government,  hailed  the  popu- 
lar movement  which  expelled  a  powerful  dynasty 
and  proclaimed  a  republic.  It  was  a  generous  im- 
pulse which  prompted  the  act,  and  the  country  will 
applaud  it. 

There  are  certainly  some  features  in  the  scene  which 
France  presents  not  wholly  agreeable  to  a  thoughtful 
observer,  and  which  awaken  the  apprehension  that 
the  provisional  government  just  established  has  prom- 
ised more  than  it  can  redeem.  The  fraternity  which 
has  been  adopted  may  not  be  consistent  with  regula- 
ted liberty ;  it  may  be  the  dream  of  idealists,  and  not 
the  conception  of  a  philosophical  statesman.  The 
measure,  too,  which  has  been  adopted  in  regard  to 
the  labor  and  wages  of  operatives,  doubling  their  com- 
pensation, and  undertaking  to  employ  them  on  the 
part  of  the  government,  is  a  very  unsafe  one.  Ev- 
ery one  accustomed  to  the  order  of  well-regulated  lib- 
erty must  see  the  danger  of  such  legislation.  It  par- 
takes too  much  of  the  character  of  a  system  of  social 
reform  too  impracticable  to  be  easily  recognized. 
Still,  these  may  be  but  temporary  arrangements,  de- 


THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION.  153 

signed  to  give  the  new  government  time  to  adjust  the 
complicated  details  of  the  great  task  which  has  been 
undertaken.  There  are  circumstances  which  may 
awaken  apprehension,  but  they  can  not  repress  sym- 
pathy. No,  sir,  they  can  not  prevent  the  expression 
of  our  deep  and  full  sympathy  with  a  people  strug- 
gling to  make  a  free  government  like  our  own.  I, 
for  one,  can  not  look  upon  such  a  spectacle  unmoved. 
It  may  be  premature — it  may  be  even  rash ;  but  I 
should  think  myself  unworthy  of  a  seat  in  an  Amer- 
ican Congress  if  I  could  refuse  to  cheer  a  people  en- 
gaged in  such  a  work.  May  they  go  on  and  prosper, 
and  may  they  erect  upon  the  soil  of  France  a  govern- 
ment resting  upon  the  great  principles  of  constitu- 
tional law,  insuring  order  at  home,  commanding  re- 
spect abroad,  and  throwing  over  Europe  the  clear  and 
steady  light  of  rational  liberty. 

I  regret,  sir,  that  the  gentleman  from  Massachu- 
setts (Mr.  Ashmun)  has  thought  proper  to  connect 
with  this  subject  another  which  does  not  belong  to  it. 
I  do  not  impute  to  him  any  improper  motive,  but  he 
must  know  that  the  people  of  this  confederacy  can 
not  hear  without  painful  sensibility  their  social  insti- 
tutions alluded  to  in  such  offensive  terms.  There  is 
on  the  part  of  the  South  nothing  aggressive ;  they 
are  content  to  sustain  the  government  as  it  is ;  they 
make  no  war  upon  the  people  or  the  institutions  of 
the  North.  But,  sir,  they  observe  your  movements 
here  with  profound  interest.  They  know  their  rights, 
and  there  is  throughout  their  entire  borders  a  purpose 
to  maintain  them  with  a  courage  and  firmness  which 
nothing  can  intimidate  or  shake. 


154  THE  FRENCH   REVOLUTION. 

The  feeling,  then,  in  regard  to  the  subject  which 
has  thus  been  thrust  upon  the  House  so  recklessly,  is 
so  profound,  so  well  settled,  and,  to  borrow  a  mode 
of  expression  from  the  French,  so  eternal,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  touch  it  without  danger. 

I  repeat,  sir,  that  in  moving  to  refer  the  resolutions 
before  us  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  I  have 
no  hostile  purpose.  I  desire  that,  when  Congress 
does  speak  upon  this  subject,  it  shall  speak  in  well- 
weighed  and  becoming  terms.  I  do  not  like  the  lan- 
guage of  these  resolutions.  It  so  happens  that  we 
are  often  called  on  to  vote  on  propositions  suddenly 
thrown  into  the  House,  when  we  can  not  express  our 
own  true  sense.  Let  the  resolutions  go  to  the  appro- 
priate committee,  and  come  back  to  us  in  a  better 
form. 


REVIEW  OF  THE  POLICY  OF  PRESIDENT 

POLK 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  JULY  24th,  1847. 

MR.  SPEAKER, — The  message  of  the  President, 
which  has  just  been  read,  is  so  important,  that  I  am 
unwilling  to  see  it  referred  without  some  discussion. 
It  is  impossible  for  any  man  who  claims  to  be  even 
a  casual  observer  of  passing  events  to  overlook  the 
intensely  interesting  aspect  which  public  affairs  wear 
at  the  present  moment.  The  war  with  Mexico  has 
been  brought  to  a  close,  and  we  must  fix  our  atten- 
tion on  events  transpiring  at  home,  which  possess  as 
high  a  moral  interest  as  the  late  brilliant  achieve- 
ments of  our  invading  armies.  I  was  here,  sir,  when 
the  President  communicated  to  Congress  the  startling 
fact  that  war  had  broken  out  upon  our  frontier,  and 
I  count  it  a  piece  of  good  fortune  to  be  here  now, 
when  he  informs  us  that  peace  is  restored.  The  war 
has  been  attended  with  circumstances  so  extraordi- 
nary, and  has  developed  results  so  important,  that  I 
can  not  suffer  them  to  pass  without  notice  and  ani- 
madversion. 

Some  days  since  we  had  a  message  from  the  Pres- 
ident transmitting  the  treaty  lately  concluded  with 
Mexico.  That  message  was  unworthy  of  the  high 
source  from  which  it  came ;  it  wanted  dignity ;  it 
was  totally  destitute  of  that  elevation  of  sentiment 


156   REVIEW  OF  THE  POLICY  OF  PRESIDENT  POLK. 

which  ought  to  characterize  such  a  state  paper.  It 
was  written  in  a  boastful  spirit,  and  proclaimed  the 
success  of  our  policy,  without  a  single  allusion  to  the 
calamities  of  war,  or  a  passing  tribute  to  the  courage 
or  the  patriotism  of  the  dead  who  fell  under  the  flag 
of  our  country,  or  to  the  living  who  brought  it  back 
in  triumph.  The  President  passes  by  all  this,  and 
comes  with  indecent  haste  to  inform  us  that  he  has 
driven  a  good  bargain  with  Mexico.  In  the  very 
spirit  of  a  hard  dealer,  he  boasts  of  the  advantages 
which  he  has  won,  by  tearing  from  a  feeble  neighbor 
some  of  her  finest  territories,  and  adding  them  to  our 
own  possessions.  He  says, 

"New  Mexico  and  Upper  California  have  been 
ceded  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States,  and  now  con- 
stitute a  part  of  our  country.  Embracing  nearly  ten 
degrees  of  latitude,  lying  adjacent  to  the  Oregon  Ter- 
ritory, and  extending  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  a  mean  distance  of  nearly  a  thousand 
miles,  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  value  of 
these  possessions  to  the  United  States.  They  consti- 
tute of  themselves  a  country  large  enough  for  a  great 
empire,  and  their  acquisition  is  second  only  in  import- 
ance to  that  of  Louisiana  in  1803.  Rich  in  mineral 
and  agricultural  resources,  with  a  climate  of  great  sa- 
lubrity, they  embrace  the  most  important  ports  on 
the  whole  Pacific  coast  of  the  continent  of  North 
America.  The  possession  of  the  ports  of  San  Diego, 
Monterey,  and  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  will  enable 
the  United  States  to  command  the  already  valuable 
and  rapidly  increasing  commerce  of  the  Pacific." 

These  are  the  terms  in  which  the  President  boasts 


REVIEW   OF  THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT   POLK.      157 

of  the  results  of  the  war.  Before  I  resume  my  seat, 
I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  show  that  there  is  no  ground 
for  boasting  or  congratulation.  One  of  three  propo- 
sitions is  certainly  true :  either  Mexico  has  lost  by 
the  treaty  which  has  terminated  the  war,  or  we  have 
lost  by  it,  or  it  is  a  drawn  bargain.  If  we  have  lost 
any  thing  by  the  arrangement,  the  administration  will 
be  held  responsible  for  the  loss ;  if  we  have  gained  an 
advantage  over  Mexico,  it  reflects  no  credit  upon  a 
country  so  superior  as  our  own  is  in  power  and  re- 
sources ;  and  if  the  advantages  of  the  adjustment  are 
to  be  considered  as  balanced,  how  is  the  President  to 
answer  to  his  conscience,  to  his  country,  and  to  man- 
kind, for  plunging  us  into  a  contest  which  has  called 
for  so  profuse  an  expenditure  of  blood  and  of  treas- 
ure, and  which  has  yielded  such  fruitless  results  ?  He 
may  take  either  of  these  hypotheses,  and  he  will  find 
that  boasting  is  excluded. 

In  commenting  on  the  message,  I  shall  observe  the 
same  order  of  subjects  as  is  observable  in  the  docu- 
ment itself.  It  treats  of  the  past,  it  exhibits  the 
present,  and  it  invites  us  to  look  to  the  future.  I 
shall  pursue  the  same  order.  This  is  an  appropriate 
time  to  review  the  policy  of  the  administration,  and 
to  show  the  country  its  results. 

What  was  the  condition  of  the  country  when  the 
administration  came  into  power?  We  were  almost 
free  from  debt ;  that  which  had  accumulated  during 
a  preceding  administration  had  been  reduced  to  an 
inconsiderable  sum,  under  the  influence  of  the  wise 
and  vigorous  measures  of  a  Whig  Congress.  Public 
credit,  which  was  drooping,  was  fully  re-established, 


158      REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OP   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

and  every  great  interest  in  the  country  was  in  a  high 
state  of  prosperity.  I  comprehend  what  I  say,  sir. 
"We  all  know  that  a  financial  system  may  be  well 
enough  adapted  to  a  special  emergency  that  it  would 
not  be  wise  to  continue  as  a  permanent  arrangement. 
I  repeat,  sir,  we  were  rapidly  discharging  our  public 
debt.  The  President  states  in  one  of  his  messages, 
that,  but  for  the  war,  that  debt  would  have  been  ex- 
tinguished. 

Our  relations  with  the  whole  world  were  pacific. 
Nothing  threatened  to  disturb  the  profound  peace 
which  the  country  had  so  long  enjoyed  except  two 
questions — the  one  affecting  our  rights  to  the  Terri- 
tory of  Oregon,  and  the  other  the  western  boundary 
of  Texas.  These  questions  became  prominent  only 
because  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  treated  by 
Mr.  Folk's  administration.  We- are  all  familiar  with 
the  history  of  the  negotiations  respecting  Oregon. 
The  question  had  been  sleeping  for  years.  Our  peo- 
ple were  settling  there,  and  strengthening  every  day 
the  policy  of  " masterly  inactivity,"  when  suddenly 
our  title  to  the  whole  territory  was  declared  by  a 
Democratic  convention  to  be  clear  and  indisputable. 
A  question  which  had  divided  cabinets  for  years  was 
disposed  of  in  a  few  hours,  and  party  banners  dis- 
played the  word  "Oregon"  as  an  essential  part  of  a 
creed.  That  party  elected  their  president,  and  when 
he  came  up  to  be  inaugurated,  standing,  on  that 
grand  occasion,  in  front  of  this  Capitol,  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  whole  American  people,  he  who 
Was  about  to  take  charge  of  our  foreign  relations 
proclaimed,  with  indecent  recklessness,  in  the  face  of 


REVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.     159 

the  whole  world,  that  our  title  to  a  territory  which 
had  been  in  dispute  for  half  a  century  was  clear  and 
unquestionable.  The  natural  and  necessary  conse- 
quence was,  that  the  question  was  at  once  invested  with 
the  highest  importance,  and  the  two  greatest  nations 
of  Christendom  began  to  arm,  and  were  about  to 
enter  into  a  deadly  contest  about  a  few  barren  acres. 
This  whole  country  was  roused.  The  North  looked 
with  apprehension  to  the  probable  termination  of  a 
question  whose  settlement  by  arms  must  powerfully 
affect  its  manufacturing  and  commercial  prosperity, 
while  the  South  regarded  it  with  equal  anxiety  in  its 
bearing  on  the  market  for  its  great  staples.  A  long 
and  most  excited  controversy  was  carried  on  in  both 
houses  of  Congress,  the  President,  with  his  cabinet, 
asserting  our  right  quite  up  to  54°  40',  and  announc- 
ing their  determination  to  stand  by  it  to  the  last, 
when  suddenly  the  Senate  were  informed  that  the 
line  of  49°  could  be  secured  as  our  northern  bounda- 
ry, and  the  executive  invited  that  body  to  advise 
him  in  advance  as  to  its  acceptance.  The  wisdom 
and  the  patriotism  of  the  Senate  averted  from  the 
country  a  most  disastrous  war.  A  body  which  had 
been  fiercely  denounced  by  the  partisans  of  the  Pres- 
ident as  insensible  to  the  rights  and  the  honor  of  the 
nation,  came  to  his  relief  when  their  aid  was  invoked, 
and  taking  charge  of  a  question  which  had,  by  mis- 
management, wellnigh  brought  us  into  collision  with 
England,  they  adjusted  it,  and  restored  a  good  under- 
standing between  two  great  Christian  powers.  It  is 
perhaps  proper  that  I  should  say  my  own  personal 
opinion  was,  that  we  were  rightfully  entitled  to  the 


160      REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

country  as  far  north  as  54°  40X;  but  as  we  had  re- 
peatedly offered,  in  former  negotiations,  to  take  49°, 
I  held  that  we  were  morally  bound  not  to  refuse  a 
settlement  on  that  parallel.  I  was  willing  to  give 
Great  Britain  notice  to  terminate  the  joint  occupancy 
of  the  country,  because  I  apprehend  that,  if  it  were 
left  as  an  open  question,  the  President  would  involve 
us  in  a  war.  I  voted  for  the  notice  as  a  peace  meas- 
ure. 

The  other  open  question  which  affected  our  foreign 
relations,  and  which  the  administration  took  charge 
of,  was  with  Mexico.  This  grew  out  of  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas.  I  never  doubted  the  right  of  the 
United  States  to  admit  Texas  into  the  Union.  Tex- 
as had  achieved  her  independence;  she  was  an  inde- 
pendent state,  de  facto  and  de  jure.  I  considered 
this  question  calmly  and  thoroughly  while  absent  in 
Europe,  away  from  the  influence  of  party,  and  look- 
ing only  to  the  effect  of  the  measure  upon  this  coun- 
try and  upon  the  world.  But,  sir,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, the  joint  resolution  by  which  Texas  was  an- 
nexed provided,  in  order  to  avoid  a  conflict  between 
that  state  and  Mexico,  that  it  was  uto  be  formed 
subject  to  adjustment  by  this  government  of  all  ques- 
tions of  boundary  that  may  arise  with  other  govern- 
ments." It  was  well  known  that  the  western  bound- 
ary of  Texas  was  in  dispute,  and,  while  Texas  claimed 
to  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  Congress  reserved  to  our 
own  government  the  right  to  adjust  this  question  re- 
specting the  extent  of  her  territory.  The  President 
has  repeatedly  admitted  that  the  eastern  bank  of  that, 
stream  was  disputed  territory,  and  has  seemed  to  pre: 


REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK.     161 

fer  the  title  of  Mexico,  by  authorizing  Mr.  Slidell  to 
offer  that  government  compensation  for  the  surrender 
of  it.  This  boundary  was  to  have  been  settled  by 
negotiation ;  the  President  was  bound  to  adjust  it  in 
that  way;  he  had  no  authority  to  control  the  ques- 
tion in  any  other  mode.  If  that  failed,  it  became  his 
duty  to  inform  Congress  of  the  fact.  It  would  then 
have  become  our  duty  to  decide  what  measures  were 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers  of  Texas, 
and  the  great  question  of  peace  or  war  would  have 
been  decided  by  that  body  to  which  the  Constitution 
has  intrusted  it.  The  President  undertook  to  decide 
the  question  by  arms;  he  assumed  that  the  Rio 
Grande  was  the  boundary  between  Texas  and  Mexi- 
co ;  and  while  Congress  was  actually  sitting,  while  he 
was  in  daily  communication  with  us,  he  usurped  the 
power  belonging  to  us,  and  sent  an  army  to  invade 
the  very  territory  which  he  was  endeavoring  to  se- 
cure by  negotiation.  In  the  very  message  received 
to-day,  he  admits  that  the  territory  was  all  the  while 
in  dispute.  Who  can  doubt  that  the  President  has 
transcended  his  authority?  Who  does  not  see  that 
he  usurped  a  dangerous  power?  I  repeat  that  Con- 
gress had  the  right  to  authorize  the  President  to  take 
possession  of  the  territory,  but,  until  he  was  invested 
with  this  power  by  us,  his  act  was  one  of  naked 
usurpation,  too  monstrous  to  be  vindicated,  and  too 
dangerous  to  be  passed  over  without  censure. 

Lord  Chatham  said,  in  the  British  Parliament,  in 
the  true  spirit  of  liberty,  ' ( Where  law  ends,  tyranny 
begins."  Sir,  it  is  true;  if  we  can  surrender  that 
principle,  we  surrender  all  that  is  worth  preserving. 

L 


162     REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

Give  up  to  the  President  the  power  of  making  war ; 
leave  it  to  him  to  fix  your  boundaries,  to  back  your 
negotiations  with  bayonets,  to  decide  your  questions 
with  other  nations  by  bringing  up  armies  or  fleets  to 
aid  the  adjustment,  and  he  will  need  no  crown  to 
make  him  royal;  the  very  power  with  which  you  in- 
vest him  makes  him  every  inch  a  king. 

The  glory  of  our  political  system  hitherto  has  been, 
that  power  was  distributed,  checked,  guarded;  that 
the  legislative  power  was  one  thing,  the  executive 
power  another,  and  that  of  the  judiciary  distinct  from 
both  these.  But  if  the  President  is  allowed  to  seize 
and  exert  one  of  the  most  important  powers  of  Con- 
gress— no  less  power  than  that  of  deciding  the  ques- 
tion of  wa'r  or  peace — and  if,  in  the  very  body  whose 
authority  has  been  thus  violated  and  contemned;  if 
in  this  body,  which  ought  forever  to  stand  between 
executive  aggressions  and  popular  rights ;  this  body, 
without  whose  votes  not  a  single  tax  can  be  laid,  not 
a  single  dollar  expended;  if,  I  say,  in  this  represent- 
ative body,  men  are  to  rise  up  and  sustain  this  usurp- 
ation of  the  President,  then  it  will  hardly  be  worth 
while  long  to  go  through  the  forms  of  legislation. 
We  may  take  down  the  mace  from  beside  your  chair; 
we  may  leave  these  seats  vacant,  and,  placing  all  the 
powers  of  the  government  in  the  hands  of  one  man, 
commit  the  prosperity,  the  liberties,  and  the  glory  of 
the  country  to  his  keeping. 

When  it  was  announced  to  us  by  the  President  that 
our  troops  had  been  attacked  by  the  Mexican  forces, 
the  Whigs  were  ready  to  vote  supplies  for  the  army. 
They  wished,  it  is  true,  to  avoid  war ;  they  objected 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.      163 

to  a  preamble  which  was  contrived  expressly  to  shield 
the  unconstitutional  act  of  the  President ;  they  pre- 
ferred to  treat  the  collision  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio 
Grande  as  an  assault  on  the  part  of  Mexico  which 
might  be  disavowed  and  atoned  for  without  involving 
the  countries  in  a  protracted  conflict ;  they  desired  to 
defend  the  boundaries  which  had  been  claimed  and 
occupied  without  hastening  to  invade  a  neighboring 
country.  But  this  did  not  suit  the  policy  of  the  ex- 
ecutive, and  he  accordingly  poured  our  victorious  ar- 
mies into  the  Mexican  territory,  and  he  conquered 
and  held  provinces  by  force  which  were  ready,  if  he 
had  waited,  to  drop  into  our  hands  like  ripe  fruit  at 
a  touch.  Yet,  in  this  document,  the  President  de- 
clares that  the  alternative  of  war  was  embraced  by 
him  reluctantly.  Where  was  the  necessity  of  inva- 
sion after  the  brilliant  victories  of  Palo  Alto  and  Re- 
saca  de  la  Palma  ?  When  would  the  flying  Mexicans 
have  rallied  and  recrossed  the  Rio  Grande?  The 
very  terror  of  Taylor's  name  would  have  driven  them 
from  the  whole  line  of  that  stream. 

Having  thus  rapidly  glanced  at  the  past  course  of 
this  administration,  I  desire  to  survey  the  scenes 
which  surround  us.  Let  us  inquire  what  w^e  have 
gained  by  this  policy.  It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that, 
while  we  entered  into  this  war  almost  free  from  debt, 
we  are  now  burdened  with  a  heavy  one.  I  suppose 
our  expenditures  will  not  fall  short  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  When  the  interests  or 
the  honor  of  the  country  are  at  stake,  we  will  not  stop 
to  count  the  cost  of  war.  I  adopt  the  glorious  sen- 
timent, which  had  its  origin  with  a  Southern  man 


164     REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

distinguished  for  his  genius  and  his  patriotism,  ''Mill- 
ions for  defense — not  a  cent  for  tribute ;"  and  I  may 
add,  Every  thing  for  the  glory  of  our  country.  But 
as  the  President  seems  in  his  message  to  cast  up,  in 
the  spirit  of  one  who  drives  a  bargain,  the  advantages 
of  the  war,  it  is  not  amiss  to  keep  in  view  the  outlay 
of  money  in  the  acquisition  of  our  possessions.  But 
I  will  not  dwell  on  this,  nor  will  I  undertake  to  es- 
timate our  other  losses  in  the  prosecution  of  this  con- 
test, which  far  exceed  the  most  lavish  expenditure  of 
treasure.  I  shall  not  say  a  word  of  the  unreturning 
brave,  who  went  out  so  warm  with  hope,  so  full  of 
energy  and  life — of  the  gallant  men  who  died  by  dis- 
ease, or  who  fell  in  battle  under  the  flag  of  their  coun- 
try. Their  memory  is  safe ;  they  fell  as  men  who 
love  their  country  are  always  ready  to  fall : 

"  How  sleep  the  brave,  who  sink  to  rest 
By  all  their  country's  wishes  bless'd  !" 

But  there  is  a  great  question  growing  out  of  this 
war  which  can  not  be  overlooked — a  question  too 
formidable  to  be  neglected,  and,  it  may  be,  too  ex- 
citing to  be  easily  settled.  It  already  flings  its  shad- 
ow along  the  whole  extent  of  the  country.  It  wears 
an  appalling  aspect.  It  is  pregnant  with  danger. 
The  considerations  which  gather  about  it  are  so  im- 
portant, and  the  interests  which  it  affects  are  so  great, 
that  it  must  awaken  apprehension  in  any  one  who 
comprehends  its  power.  I  speak,  sir,  of  the  question 
which  involves  the  rights  of  the  slaveholding  states 
of  this  confederacy.  The  territory  which  we  have  ac- 
quired belongs  to  the  people  of  this  whole  country, 
spread  throughout  its  thirty  states ;  yet,  in  the  organ- 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.      165 

ization  of  territorial  governments,  it  is  sought  by  one 
portion  of  the  people  to  secure  the  whole  advantage 
of  our  new  acquisitions  to  their  exclusive  benefit. 
The  political  power  of  the  North  is  to  be  still  farther 
swelled,  while  the  Southern  States  are  to  be  girded 
in,  and  their  people  shut  out  from  all  enjoyment  of 
property  acquired  by  the  mingled  blood  and  the  com- 
mon treasure-  of  the  whole  country.  From  the  very 
battle-fields  where  the  men  of  the  South  fell  beneath 
the  eagles  of  their  country,  their  kindred  are  to  be 
forever  excluded.  How  shall  this  question  be  dis- 
posed of?  This  is  the  question  to  which  we  must 
turn  our  attention.  It  rises  before  us  in  all  its  vast 
proportions ;  it  is  the  same  question  which  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson described  as  striking  upon  his  ear  like  the 
sound  of  a  fire-bell  at  night,  awaking  him  and  filling 
him  with  terror.  A  profound  anxiety  pervades  the 
public  mind ;  a  sectional  jealousy  is  aroused  which 
threatens  the  harmony  of  these  confederated  states. 
At  the  North,  a  formidable  organization  is  already 
exhibited;  an  ex-President  of  the  United  States  leads 
a  party  whose  aim  is  to  destroy  the  political  power 
of  the  South.  Combinations  are  set  on  foot  which 
break  the  lines  of  regular  parties,  and  men  are  invited 
to  abandon  existing  political  associations,  and  gather 
about  the  standard  of  one  who,  forgetting  all  that  is 
due  to  his  country  and  his  fame,  draws  off  from  his 
former  allies,  and  takes  a  position  as  the  chief  of  a 
faction. 

We  greatly  misapprehend  the  state  of  feeling  both 
at  the  North  and  at  the  South  if  we  do  not  see  that 
it  is  becoming  thoroughly  roused.  Let  us  not  under- 


166     REVIEW    OF   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

rate  the  importance  and  the  results  of  this  question. 
In  a  country  so  extensive  as  ours,  sectional  jealousies 
and  political  divisions,  organized  upon  geographical 
lines,  are  always  alarming.  It  should  ever  be  the 
aim  of  patriotism  to  repress  them.  The  President, 
alluding  to  the  existing  feeling  in  the  country,  says : 

"  There  has,  perhaps,  been  no  period  since  the  warn- 
ing so  impressively  given  by  Washington  to  his  coun- 
trymen, to  guard  against  geographical  divisions  and 
sectional  parties,  which  appeals  with  greater  force 
than  the  present  to  the  patriotic,  sober-minded,  and 
reflecting  of  all  parties,  and  of  all  sections  of  our 
country.  Who  can  calculate  the  value  of  our  glo- 
rious Union?  It  is  a  model  and  example  of  free 
government  to  all  the  world,  and  is  the  star  of  hope 
and  haven  of  rest  to  the  oppressed  of  every  clime. 
By  its  preservation  we  have  been  rapidly  advanced 
as  a  nation  to  a  height  of  strength,  power,  and  hap- 
piness without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
As  we  extend  its  blessing  over  new  regions,  shall  we 
be  so  unwise  as  to  endanger  its  existence  by  geograph- 
ical divisions  and  dissensions'?" 

After  precipitating  the  country  into'  this  perilous 
position  by  his  war  of  conquest,  he  invokes  the  pa- 
triotism of  Congress,  and  complacently  appeals  to  the 
counsels  of  Washington. 

In  the  recent  debates  of  the  Senate,  it  has  been  said 
that  this  question  threatens  the  Union.  Who  has 
forced  it  upon  us  ?  Is  not  this  administration  respon- 
sible for  all  the  consequences  that  may  grow  out  of 
it  ?  No  man  can  be  indifferent  as  to  what  is  passing 
around  us.  As  well  might  men  be  indifferent  who 


REVIEW   OF  THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK.     167 

stand  upon  the  deck  of  a  vessel  drifting  upon  break- 
ers ;  their  very  roar  is  already  in  our  ears. 

In  this  hall,  even,  there  are  men  who  devote  their 
lives  to  the  single  business  of  agitation — who  employ 
all  their  energies  in  alienating  the  North  from  the 
South,  and  who  seek,  by  every  means  within  their 
power,  to  inflame  the  popular  mind  of  every  other 
portion  of  the  Union  against  the  people  of  the  slave- 
holding  states.  Yielding  themselves  up  to  this  single 
object,  forgetting  all  that  is  glorious  in  the  common 
history  of  these  states,  and  overlooking  all  that  is 
cheering  in  the  future,  impelled  by  a  sleepless  and 
undying  hatred  to  the  South,  this  party — if  it  deserves 
to  be  called  by  a  name  so  honorable — is  the  very  im- 
personation of  that  bigotry  which  rushes  forward  with 
an  averted  face  in  its  reckless  career,  deaf  alike  to  the 
voice  of  reason  and  of  patriotism. 

It  is  high  time  to  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the 
country — to  call  on  the  people  to  save  this  glorious 
structure  reared  by  the  men  of  the  Revolution ;  for 
we  can  not  be  insensible  to  the  responsibility  of  our 
position ;  all  the  past  appeals  to  us — voices  from  the 
battle-fields  where  liberty  struck,  and  from  the  senate- 
chambers  where  liberty  spoke,  call  on  us  to  be  faith- 
ful to  our  great  trust;  and  those  who  are  to  come 
after  us  seem  to  press  into  our  presence  with  silent 
but  beseeching  faces,  and  implore  us  to  save  our 
country  in  this  crisis.  If  we  ever  intend  to  rescue 
the  country  from  the  perils  which  invest  it,  we  ought 
to  do  it  now. 

In  regard  to  the  authority  of  Congress  over  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  I  desire  to  give  my 


168     REVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

views.  The  question,  at  all  times  an  interesting  one, 
-has  now  assumed  great  practical  importance.  The 
first  proposition  which  I  shall  state  is,  that  Congress 
possesses  exclusive  power  to  legislate  for  the  territo- 
ries of  the  United  States.  Of  this  I  do  not  entertain 
a  doubt;  and,  while  I  have  heard  various  opinions 
expressed  here  in  regard  to  this  subject,  I  am  at  a  loss 
to  see  how  any  one  who  examines  it  can  reach  any 
other  conclusion.  That  the  whole  power  over  the 
territories  originally  rests  in  Congress  is  perfectly 
clear,  and  it  remains  for  those  who  assert  that  the 
right  to  legislate  in  respect  to  them  belongs  to  the 
people  who  inhabit  them  to  show  at  what  time  the 
power  is  transferred  from  Congress  to  the  inhabitants. 
But,  sir,  this  question  has  been  so  often  examined 
here  that  I  will  not  consume  my  limited  time  in  con- 
sidering it. 

My  second  proposition  is  that,  while  Congress  pos- 
sesses the  exclusive  power  of  legislation  for  the  terri- 
tories, that  power  is  by  no  means  an  unlimited  one. 
It  is  just  here  that  gentlemen  often  fall  into  error. 
Exclusive  does  not  mean  unlimited.  The  power  to 
which  I  refer  is  exclusive  in  that  it  acknowledges  no 
co-ordinate  jurisdiction ;  but  it  is  restricted,  as  are 
all  the  powers  delegated  to  Congress.  While  Con- 
gress, then,  undertakes  to  exercise  the  power  of  ex- 
clusive legislation  for  the  territories,  it  is  bound  to 
carry  on  its  legislation  in  reference  to  the  character 
of  the  states  of  this  confederacy,  from  which  it  derives 
the  power.  It  must  regard  the  rights  of  all  the 
states,  and  can  not,  without  an  abuse  of  its  power, 
legislate  for  the  benefit  of  one  section  at  the  expense 


BE  VIEW  OF  THE  POLICY  OF  PRESIDENT  POLK.   169 

of  another ;  it  is  an  abuse  of  its  power  as  an  agent 
for  the  states,  I  care  not  whether  the  legislation  be 
for  the  benefit  of  the  South  at  the  expense  of  the 
North,  or  for  the  benefit  of  the  North  at  the  expense 
of  the  South. 

This  brings  me  to  my  third  proposition,  which  is, 
that  Congress  is  not,  in  its  legislation  for  the  Terri- 
tories, to  look  to  their  welfare  alone,  but  is  bound  to 
regard  the  good  of  the  parties  interested  in  the  own- 
ership of  the  Territories.  This,  it  will  be  perceived, 
is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  opinions  advanced  by  a 
distinguished  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Mr.  Adams  (Mr.  Mann),  in  his  beautiful  in- 
troductory speech  in  this  hall — a  speech  which,  I  con- 
fess, I  listened  to  with  admiration,  though  I  strongly 
dissented  from  some  of  its  sentiments.  The  gentle- 
man insists  that  Congress,  in  legislating  for  the  Ter- 
ritories, must  look  to  their  good  alone,  and  shape  all 
measures  so  as  to  advance  their  prosperity,  without 
any  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  people  of  the  several 
states.  This  doctrine,  though  it  has  a  certain  charm 
about  it,  is  wholly  erroneous.  Let  us  apply  this  rea- 
soning to  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  which,  stretching 
along  the  Pacific  coast,  fronts  certain  parts  of  north- 
eastern Asia.  "Would  Congress  have  a  right  to  say 
that  this  territory  should  be  occupied  only  by  colo- 
nists from  China,  because  a  prosperous  trade  might 
be  attained  with  the  East,  and  the  prosperity  of  Or- 
egon rapidly  advanced  if  that  course  were  taken? 
Unquestionably  not.  Or,  suppose  that  Congress 
should  happen  to  conclude  that  it  was  important  to 
the  welfare  of  that  territory  to  allow  only  a  manufac- 


X 

170      REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

turing  population  to  remove  there,  would  it  be  prop- 
er to  legislate  for  this  object  ?  Unquestionably  not. 

The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  considers  terri- 
tory which  we  acquire  as  the  property  of  this  govern- 
ment, and  insists  that  Congress  possesses  the  right  to 
control  it  absolutely.  This  is  a  very  common  error. 
It  results  from  a  certain  system  of  political  training. 
If  our  government  were  a  monarchy,  and  all  powers, 
or  the  sovereign  power,  centred  in  the  crown,  the  ar- 
gument might  hold  good ;  or  it  might  be  maintained 
if  the  states  which  we  represent  were  consolidated 
into  one  great  empire.  But,  sir,  ours  is  a  federative 
republic ;  it  bears  no  resemblance  to  an  empire  what- 
ever ;  it  is  a  structure  unlike  what  the  world  ever 
saw,  deriving  its  powers  from  sovereign  states,  who 
are  members  of  this  confederation ;  and  this  govern- 
ment, this  general  government,  can  exercise  none  but 
the  powers  which  are  clearly  granted  to  it  by  the 
states.  Whatever  territory  is  acquired  is  acquired 
for  the  people  of  the  several  states,  and  Congress 
must  remember  to  exercise  its  legislative  functions  in 
regard  to  it  as  their  agent. 

I  am  asked  by  my  friend  from  New  York  (Mr. 
Duer)  where  the  restrictions  on  the  powers  of  Con- 
gress, are  to  be  found?.  They  result  from  the  very 
nature  of  our  political  system.  If  there  are  parties 
to  this  confederacy,  a  portion  of  whom  would  be  in- 
jured by  the  legislation  of  Congress,  is  Congress  act- 
ing in  good  faith  when  it  exercises  legislation  in  that 
direction  ?  Congress,  as  my  friend  from  Tennessee, 
near  me  (Mr.  Gentry),  well  suggests,  would  thus,  as 
a  common  agent  for  all  the  states  who  are  parties  to 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.       171 

the  interest,  abuse  its  power  for  the  benefit  of  one  or 
more  of  the  parties.  It  can  not  be  denied  that  all  the 
states  of  this  Union  have  a  clear  title  to  the  property 
acquired  by  their  government,  and  they  have  an  equal- 
ly clear  equitable  right  to  its  enjoyment. 

The  distinguished  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
has,  it  seems  to  me,  fallen  into  another  error.  He 
regards  agriculture  as  of  little  moment  in  the  cata- 
logue of  labor,  but  eulogized  the  manufacturing  inter- 
ests to  a  degree  which,  I  confess,  startled  me,  coming 
even  from  a  gentleman  from  that  section  of  the  coun- 
try. He  drew  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  triumph  of 
man  over  nature,  representing  him  as  a  demigod 
standing  by  the  side  of  a  running  stream,  and  bidding 
it  to  do  his  labor,  or  employing  as  his  agents  all  the 
elements  in  the  material  universe.  In  his  eye,  the 
wheel  driving  a  thousand  spindles  is  an  object  of  far 
higher  interest  than  outspread  fields  waving  with 
grain.  The  demigod  who  commands  the  Penobscot, 
the  Kennebeck,  the  Merrimack,  or  the  Connecticut, 
to  saw  timber,  to  make  cloth,  to  grind  corn,  is  far 
more  noble,  as  well  as  potent,  in  his  estimation,  than 
the  man  who  fells  the  forest,  who  lays  bare  the  earth 
with  the  plowshare,  and  who  gathers  the  abundance 
of  the  fields  into  his  granaries.  I  would  not  under- 
value manufactures,  nor  any  of  the  mechanic  arts. 
The  gentleman  shall  not  surpass  me  in  my  admiration 
of  human  skill.  I  will  visit  with  him  all  the  facto- 
ries of  New  England.  I  will  follow  his  lead  along 
the  rushing  streams  which  set  in  motion  all  the  busy 
machinery  of  his  region.  I  will  go  with  him  into 
every  workshop  where  art  plies  its  unceasing  toil,  and 


172      REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

I  will  rejoice  over  every  sign  of  prosperity  which 
meets  us  in  our  progress.  But,  sir,  I  will  then  ask 
him  to  go  forth  with  me  to  the  fields,  to  see  them  laid 
open  for  the  reception  of  the  precious  seed,  or  white 
for  the  harvest ;  I  will  bid  him  listen  to  the  cheerful 
songs  of  labor  that  greet  the  ear,  and  I  will  then  call 
on  him  to  say  with  me  that  the  earth  presents  no  more 
beautiful  spectacle  than  this,  and  that  no  employment 
is  nobler  than  the  simple,  peaceful  pursuit  which  God 
gave  to  man  when  he  drove  him  out  of  Paradise. 
I  do  not  desire  to  disparage  any  branch  of  industry, 
but  I  place  agriculture  highest  in  the  scale  of  human 
labor.  But  this  great  interest  the  gentleman  seemed 
to  overlook ;  and  because  the  cultivation  of  the  soil 
by  slave  labor  would,  in  his  opinion,  hinder  the  pros- 
perity of  the  territories  where  it  is  introduced,  he 
would  exclude  this  labor  from  them  all.  Proceeding 
on  the  idea  that  all  the  territorial  possessions  belong 
to  the  general  government,  and  not  to  the  states; 
proceeding  on  the  idea  that  in  legislating  for  the  Ter- 
ritories Congress  must  look  to  their  welfare  alone,  he 
would  exclude  slavery,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
slavery  is  not,  in  his  judgment,  suited  to  the  highest 
development  of  their  resources.  The  planter,  with 
his  slaves,  who  seeks  to  enter  the  territory,  belonging 
to  him  in  common  with  the  people  of  this  whole  coun- 
try, to  cultivate  the  earth,  is  to  be  excluded,  while  the 
manufacturer  is  invited  to  take  up  his  abode  there, 
erect  his  buildings,  and  set  his  operatives  to  work. 
Why,  this  is  the  merest  sophistry  which  the  world 
ever  heard  of.  The  calamity  of  our  times  is,  that  we 
have  abandoned  the  great,  broad,  clear  principles 


KEVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.      173 

which  distinguished  the  action  of  our  fathers ;  we  are 
turning  our  eyes  to  new  lights ;  we  are  yielding  our- 
selves up  to  philosophical  speculations  in  all  the  de^ 
partments  of  life,  and  patriotism  is  lost  in  a  wild  and 
erratic  philanthropy.  It  is  in  this  way  that  we  be- 
come alienated  from  each  other.  Let  us  recur  to  so- 
ber elementary  principles,  and  suffer  ourselves  to  be 
guided  by  those  high  and  holy  motives  which  ani- 
mated our  fathers  in  the  formation  of  this  confeder- 
acy. 

But,  sir,  while  I  contend  for  the  right  of  the  people 
represented  by  me  here,  to  take  their  property  into 
the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  and  enjoy  it 
without  molestation,  I  am  ready  to  settle  this  great 
question  in  the  spirit  which  has  more  than  once  saved 
this  country.  I  do  not  ask  every  thing  for  the  sec- 
tion of  the  country  from  which  I  come.  I  wish  here 
to  allude  to  a  proposition  which  has  recently  been 
started,  and  which  has  been  the  topic  of  conversation 
for  some  days  past  in  the  other  branch  of  Congress ; 
I  speak  of  what  is  called  "the  Compromise  Bill."  So 
far  as  I  comprehend  it,  I  unhesitatingly  express  my 
opposition  to  it;  and  if  it  should  ever  reach  this 
House  in  its  present  shape,  I  shall  cast  my  vote 
against  it. 

The  measure  proposes  to  recognize  and  ratify  the 
act  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Oregon  excluding 
slavery,  and  to  leave  the  question  in  California  and 
New  Mexico  to  be  decided  by  the  courts  under  exist- 
ing laws. 

The  question  as  to  the  existence  of  slavery  in  any 
part  of  the  United  States  is  a  political  question,  and 


174      REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

not  a  judicial  question.  It  has  always  been  treated 
as  a  political  question.  When  the  question  came  up 
in  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution,  it 
is  well  known  that  conflicting  views  were  entertained 
respecting  it ;  it  was  then  discussed  as  a  political 
question,  and  it  proved  to  be  a  very  formidable  one. 
It  was  disposed  of  finally  by  a  compromise  which  en- 
tered into  the  formation  of  our  political  system — a 
compromise  as  wise  as  it  was  patriotic — a  compro- 
mise which  produced  tranquillity  then,  and  which  de- 
serves to  be  studied  now. 

Upon  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union, 
this  question  was  again  regarded  as  a  political  ques- 
tion. The  only  barrier  to  the  admission  of  that  state 
was  found  in  this  question.  A  compromise  was  once 
more  entered  into — a  compromise  which,  it  was  be- 
lieved, was  to  be  permanent,  and  which  was  regarded 
as  binding  upon  the  whole  country,  in  letter  and  in 
spirit.  It  was  a  compromise  which,  in  my  judgment^ 
sacrificed  the  just  rights  of  the  South,  and  of  which 
the  North  should  be  the  very  last  ever  to  complain. 

In  obedience  to  its  spirit,  the  South  gave  up  a  por- 
tion of  Louisiana  to  frame  non-slaveholding  states ; 
yet  the  successors  of  the  very  men  who  agreed  to  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  who  stretched  the  line  of 
36°  30'  across  an  immense  slaveholding  territory,  con- 
tend to-day  that  slavery  shall  be  excluded  from  all 
territory  not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  states 
lying  even  south  of  that  parallel.  The  doctrine  now 
is,  that  "free  soil  must  remain  free."  This  is  a  mod- 
ern discovery,  most  opportunely  made  to  suit  the 
views  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  this  crusade  against 


REVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK.      175 

the  South — a  crusade  which  has  not  even  misguided 
philanthropy  to  apologize  for  its  excesses,  but  which 
aims  to  aggrandize  the  political  power  of  the  North. 
When  Texas  came  into  the  Union,  this  question  was 
again  treated  as  a  political  question,  and  the  Missouri 
Compromise  line  was  once  more  recognized  and  ap- 
plied to  that  state.  Yet  it  is  proposed  now  to  treat 
this  question  as  a  judicial  one,  and  to  subject  the  po- 
litical rights  of  the  Southern  States  to  the  decision  of 
the  courts.  Upon  their  construction  of  existing  laws 
the  whole  question  is  to  turn  in  California  and  New 
Mexico,  while  Oregon  is  absolutely  surrendered. 

I  object  again  to  this  u  compromise, "  because  it  is 
no  settlement  of  the  question ;  it  is  simply  an  adjourn- 
ment of  it.  It  leaves  to  Oregon  the  right  to  legislate 
for  the  exclusion  of  slavery,  and  it  inhibits  New  Mex- 
ico and  California  from  exercising  any  right  whatev- 
er in  regard  to  it— from  legislating  in  any  manner 
respecting  slavery,  while  the  claim  of  the  owner  to 
every  slave  which  he  introduces  there  is  to  be  sub- 
jected to  the  decision  of  the  courts  upon  laws  as  they 
now  exist  there.  Is  this  a  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion ?  If  it  should  be  conceded  that  the  courts  would 
decide  to  admit  slaves,  and  all  legislation  in  respect 
to  them  is  inhibited,  who  could  hold  his  slaves  when 
lie  got  there  ?  Where  would  be  their  patrol  laws  ? 
where  their  laws  for  the  security  of  property  ?  where 
the  law  to  enable  the  master  to  compel  obedience  on 
the  part  of  his  slave  ?  Is  it  not  obvious  that  no  de- 
cision made  by  the  Supreme  Court,  before  whom  the 
question  must  finally  come,  would  give  satisfaction  ? 
The  agitation  would  go  on ;  it  would  grow  fiercer ; 


176      REVIEW   OF  THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

it  would  dash  its  furious  surges  against  the  highest 
judicial  tribunal  of  the  country.  If  the  decision 
should  be  favorable  to  the  South,  who  can  measure 
the  extent  of  dissatisfaction  which  would  pervade  the 
North?  The  decision  would  disclose  to  the  advo- 
cates of  the  restrictive  clauses  that  the  laws  of  New 
Mexico  and  California  tolerated  slavery,  and  they 
would  feel  more  powerfully  than  ever  before  the  ne- 
cessity of  pressing  their  measure.  But  if  the  decis- 
ion should  be  favorable  to  the  North,  as  it  is  almost 
universally  conceded  it  would  be,  how  could  we  face 
our  constituents  after  having  given  our  support  to  a 
bill  which  surrendered  the  very  rights  we  were  ex- 
pected to  guard  ?  No,  sir ;  this  is  no  settlement  of 
this  alarming  question ;  the  agitation  will  go  on.  I 
desire  a  compromise,  earnestly  desire  it,  but  that  com- 
promise must  be  a  settlement  of  the  question.  If  I 
yield  up  any  of  the  rights  of  those  who  have  sent  me 
here  to  represent  them,  and  who  honor  me  with  their 
confidence,  I  must  know  the  full  extent  of  the  sacri- 
fice, and  I  must  at  least  insure  tranquillity  when  I 
make  it.  An  arrangement  which  leaves  all  the  ques- 
tions in  dispute  unsettled,  all  the  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers still  threatening,  can  never  receive  my  support. 
There  is  but  one  way  to  settle  this  question :  that  is, 
to  treat  it  as  a  political  question.  It  must  be  met 
openly,  frankly,  and  in  a  patriotic  spirit.  We  must 
act  with  firmness ;  we  must  not  shrink  from  the  re- 
sponsibility of  our  position ;  we  must  inquire  what 
is  wise,  what  is  equitable.  Let  the  interests  of  all 
the  states  of  this  confederacy  be  regarded,  and  let  us 
come  right  up  to  a  line  and  adhere  to  it.  It  so  hap- 


REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK.      177 

pened  that,  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  I  address- 
ed the  House  immediately  after  Mr.  Preston  King 
brought  in  his  resolution  in  favor  of  a  measure  now 
known  as  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  I  then  said, 

"  If  this  scheme  of  acquiring  territory  is  persisted 
in,  and  the  power  of  this  government  is  brought  to 
bear  upon  it  so  as  to  exclude  slavery  from  every  part 
of  it,  it  must  be  seen  by  all  who  have  bestowed  any 
reflection  on  the  history  of  the  organization  and  prog- 
ress of  our  political  system,  that  the  most  serious,  I 
may  say  disastrous,  results  will  follow.  This  Union 
can  only  stand  on  those  compromises  which  I  regard 
in  their  sacred  obligation  as  second  only  to  the  Con- 
stitution. The  compromise  which  has  already  taken 
place  on  the  Missouri  question  was  sufficiently  disad- 
vantageous to  the  South.  *  *  If  territory  is  to  be 
acquired,  let  it  be  subjected  to  compromises  which 
have  been  already  formed.  I  do  not  wish  for  any 
violation  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Let  it  stand 
in  letter  and  spirit.  Let  the  line  upon  which  it  runs 
be  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

I  am  willing  to  abide  by  it  this  day.  I  know  that 
it  gives  up  to  the  North  the  most  valuable  portion 
of  the  territory,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  disturb  a  line 
Which  is  already  drawn.  Spread  out  the  map,  and 
you  will  see  that  Monterey,  San  Francisco,  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River — in  short,  almost  all  that  is 
valuable  in  our  late  acquisitions  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
lie  north  of  the  parallel  of  36°  30X.  We  shall,  how- 
ever, by  a  settlement  on  that  line,  be  able  to  ascertain 
what  our  rights  are ;  and  I  do  not  think  a  limit  which 
has  the  sanction  of  precedent,  and  which  seems  to 

M 


178     REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OP   PRESIDENT    POLK. 

bound  the  region  where  slave  labor  is  likely  to  be 
employed  profitably,  would  be  disturbed. 

The  question  must  be  settled  upon  some  terms; 
the  country  is  in  danger.  I  am  amazed  that  gentle- 
men do  not  see  it.  I  will  not  question  the  patriotism 
of  any  gentleman  for  a  moment.  I  can  not  conceive 
that  one  calling  himself  an  American  can  entertain 
a  malignity  so  dark  as  to  desire  to  wrap  this  glorious 
structure  under  which  we  live  in  the  fires  of  a  con- 
suming conflagration.  But  this  question  does  involve 
the  country  in  immense,  immeasurable  peril.  It  ought 
to  be  settled  at  this  time  so  that  it  can  never  be  re- 
vived again.  The  President  has  brought  this  danger 
upon  us,  and  we  must  rescue  the  country  from  it. 
The  Constitution  must  be  brought  out  of  the  perils 
which  surround  and  threaten  it.  As  its  old  name- 
sake once  was,  it  is  now  on  a  lee  shore;  it  must  be 
saved.  Turn  its  prow  once  more  upon  the  broad, 
open,  and  peaceful  sea ;  fling  out  from  its  tallest  mast 
the  old  flag  which  had  so  long  floated  over  it ;  let  the 
whole  world  see  every  star  in  the  constellation ;  tear 
away  from  the  helm  him  who  has  been  either  too  fee- 
ble to  guide  it,  or  too  faithless  to  execute  his  trust, 
and  place  there  a  man  whose  great  heart  has  always 
beat  true  to  his  country,  and  whose  strong  arm  will 
keep  us  in  our  course,  no  matter  what  adverse  currents 
we  may  meet,  or  what  storms  may  burst  upon  us. 
No  mere  partisan  can  settle  this  question.  We  must 
bring  to  the  presidency  a  man  in  whose  patriotism 
the  whole  country  has  confidence.  A  mere  politician, 
thrown  up  by  the  dark  and  turbid  waters  of  party, 
has  no  moral  power  over  a  question  of  this  sort  He 


PEVIEW    OF    THE    POLICY    OF   PRESIDENT    POLK.      179 

must  be  a  man  tried  in  the  presence  of  danger — a 
man  whose  courage  never  flinches  on  the  battle-field, 
in  the  council-chamber,  or  in  the  executive  chair. 

Having  thus  shown  the  results  of  the  foreign  pol- 
icy of  the  administration — a  policy  which  turned  the 
country  out  of  its  prosperous  and  peaceful  career,  and 
which  has  brought  upon  it  a  large  public  debt  and  a 
most  formidable  internal  question,  I  desire  to  look  to 
the  future.  Shall  the  government  go  on  as  it  has 
been  carried  on  for  the  few  past  years,  or  shall  it  be 
turned  upon  a  new,  high,  and  pacific  course  ?  This  is 
a  question  which  addresses  itself  to  every  American 
citizen.  We  are  just  entering  into  a  contest  which 
involves  the  most  important  results.  Never  did  men 
strike  for  a  nobler  cause  than  that  which  now  em- 
ploys the  energies  of  the  Whigs  of  the  United  States. 
We  are  true  to  the  great  principles  which  distinguish- 
ed the  Whigs  who  first  bore  the  name.  They  strug- 
gled against  Charles,  who  brought  all  the  influence 
of  the  crown  to  bear  against  the  representatives  of 
the  people.  It  was  a  battle  between  kingly  power 
and  the  Parliament  of  England.  Guided  by  the  ad- 
vice of  such  men  as  Buckingham  and  Strafford,  the 
king  exerted  all  his  strength  in  the  effort  to  keep  down 
the  spirit  of  popular  liberty  in  his  dominions.  On 
one  occasion,  when  displeased  with  the  proceedings 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  he  sent  for  the  Journal, 
and  with  his  own  royal  hand  tore  out  the  offensive 
record.  That  was  one  instance  of  expunging.  A 
scheme  is  going  on  in  this  country  by  which  popular 
rights  and  the  popular  will  are  likely  to  be  less  po- 
tent here  than  they  are  to-day  in  England.  It  is 


180     REVIEW    OF   THE   POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

worth  while  to  remember  that  the  struggle  which  be- 
gan there  between  the  monarch  and  the  people  ended 
in  overthrowing  the  royal  omnipotence,  and  in  erect- 
ing barriers  about  the  rights  of  the  people  which  have 
never  since  been  borne  down. 

It  is  significant  enough  that  Buckingham  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  the  popular  indignation,  and  Strafford,  though 
the  king  was  pledged  to  protect  him,  did  not  escape 
the  scaffold;  he  laid  down  his  head,  exclaiming,  "Put 
not  your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  sons  of  men,  for 
in  them  there  is  no  salvation."  Even  Charles  him- 
self, after  a  protracted  struggle  with  his  people,  was 
compelled  to  lay  down  his  own  anointed  head  on  the 
block  in  front  of  Whitehall,  and  the  axe  of  the  exe- 
cutioner struck  it  off. 

There  are  great  principles  which  are  essential  to 
liberty;  it  can  not  exist  without  them.  These  the 
Whigs  seek  to  preserve. 

The  very  first  of  these  principles  is  resistance  to 
executive  power.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  party 
styling  itself  Democratic  seeks  to  clothe  the  President 
with  almost  royal  attributes ;  it  sustains  him  in  all 
his  assumptions  of  authority — in  all  his  usurpations 
of  power.  When  defeated  in  a  body  representing  the 
people,  this  party  calls  on  the  President  to  come  to 
its  aid  with  his  veto.  Who  that  witnessed  it  can  ever 
forget  the  humiliating  spectacle  exhibited  in  this  hall 
but  a  few  days  since?  The  representatives  of  the 
people,  in  the  exercise  of  their  legislative  duty,  hav- 
ing inserted  in  a  bill  on  its  way  through  this  house 
an  appropriation  of  money  for  an  object  which,  it 
was  understood,  would  not  meet  executive  favor,  were 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.      181 

actually  threatened  with  the  veto  of  the  President ; 
and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  we  shall  yet  es- 
cape it.  What  is  popular  liberty  worth  if  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people  can  not  vote  an  appropria- 
tion of  the  money  of  the  people  for  a  perfectly  prop- 
er national  object  without  finding  their  legislation  ar- 
rested by  the  interposition  of  the  executive  will?  Ac- 
cording to  the  Democratic  creed,  the  President  is  the 
mere  head  of  a  party ;  measures  passed  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people  are  to  be  arrested  by  his 
veto ;  schemes  agreed  on  by  his  party,  however  odious 
to  the  people,  are  to  be  carried  through  by  all  the  in- 
fluence of  executive  patronage. 

The  President  occupies  a  great  position  in  our  po- 
litical system.  He  should  sit  poised  between  the 
parties;  but  this  modern  creed  makes  him  a  mere 
partisan  chief,  and  invites  him  to  unite  with  the  mi- 
nority to  defeat  the  action  of  the  majority  of  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people,  just  as  in  royal  govern- 
ments the  monarch  is  often  in  league  with  his  own 
creatures  against  the  popular  sentiment. 

It  is  important  to  comprehend  the  true  relations, 
between  the  executive  and  Congress.  His  functions 
are  defined  by  the  Constitution,  and  the  reasons  for 
conferring  them  are  to  be  found  in  the  speeches  and 
writings  of  the  men  who  created  our  political  system. 
Patrick  Henry's  opposition  to  the  executive  feature 
of  our  political  system  is  well  known ;  and  if  he  could 
have  lived  to  this  day,  he  would  have  seen  how  fully 
his  apprehensions  were  realized.  The  President  of 
the  United  States  should  rise  to  a  just  conception  of 
the  duties  of  his  exalted  station,  and  he  should  aim 


182     REVIEW    OF    THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

to  discharge  them  in  an  eminently  patriotic  spirit. 
No  horizon  less  than  that  which  embraces  the  whole 
country  should  limit  his  vision,  and  he  should  scru- 
pulously forbear  to  transcend  the  authority  which 
belongs  to  him  in  his  great  office.  In  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  powers  of  each  department  of  the  govern- 
ment are  clearly  denned.  These  powers  are  distrib- 
uted: the  legislative  power,  which  is  first  named,  is 
vested  in  Congress ;  the  executive  power  is  vested  in 
the  President;  and  the  judicial  power  is  vested  in 
the  Supreme  Court  and  such  other  courts  as  Congress 
may  establish.  The  harmony  of  our  system  can  only 
be  preserved  by  a  strict  observance  of  this  distribu- 
tion of  powers.  The  duty  of  the  President  is  to  ex&- 
•cute  the  laws,  not  to  make  them ;  he  is,  from  time  to 
time,  to  give  to  Congress  information  of  the  state  of 
the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration 
such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expe- 
dient. His  duty  being  thus  discharged,  he  is  to  await 
the  action  of  Congress ;  and  when  a  bill  is  presented 
to  him,  he  must  sign  it,  or,  if  he  disapprove  it,  must 
return  it  with  his  objections.  It  is  then  in  the  power 
of  Congress  to  pass  the  bill  thus  objected  to  by  a  vote 
of  two  thirds. 

Now  it  is  important  to  inquire  into  the  reasons  for 
conferring  on  the  President  this  power  of  returning 
bills  passed  by  Congress.  Is  the  power  arbitrary, 
or  is  it  only  to  be  exerted  in  certain  cases  which  de- 
mand the  solemn  interposition  of  the  executive  veto? 
It  will  be  found,  on  looking  into  the  history  of  the 
government,  that  the  great  consideration  which  in- 
duced the  framers  of  the  Constitution  to  give  this 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY    OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.      183 

power  to  the  President  was  to  enable  him  to  protect 
the  executive  department;  and  it  was  certainly  in- 
tended, also,  as  a  check  upon  improper  legislation. 
It  is  stated  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  in  No.  73  of  the 
Federalist: 

uThe  propensity  of  the  legislative  department  to 
intrude  upon  the  rights  and  to  absorb  the  powers  of 
other  departments  has  already  been  more  than  once 
suggested;  the  insufficiency  of  a  mere  parchment  de- 
lineation of  the  boundaries  of  each  has  also  been  re- 
marked upon ;  and  the  necessity  of  furnishing  each 
with  constitutional  arms  for  its  own  defense  has  been 
inferred  and  proved.  From  these  clear  and  indubi- 
table principles  results  the  propriety  of  a  negative, 
either  absolute  or  qualified,  in  the  executive,  upon 
the  acts  of  the  legislative  branches.  Without  the 
one  or  the  other,  the  former  would  be  absolutely  un- 
able to  defend  himself  against  the  depredations  of 
the  latter.  He  might  gradually  be  stripped  of  his 
authorities  by  successive  resolutions,  or  annihilated 
by  a  single  vote ;  and,  in  the  one  mode  or  the  other, 
the  legislative  and  executive  powers  might  speedily 
come  to  be  blended  in  the  same  hands.  If  even  no 
propensity  had  ever  discovered  itself  in  the  legislative 
body  to  invade  the  rights  of  the  executive,  the  rules 
of  just  reasoning  and  theoretic  propriety  would  of 
themselves  teach  us  that  the  one  ought  not  to  be  left 
at  the  mercy  of  the  other,  but  ought  to  possess  a  con- 
stitutional and  effectual  power  of  self-defense.  But 
the  power  has  a  further  use;  it  not  only  serves  as  a 
shield  to  the  executive,  but  it  furnishes  an  additional 
security  against  the  enaction  of  improper  laws." 


184     REVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

This  is  the  reasoning  which  Mr.  Hamilton  resorted 
to  in  vindication  of  a  power  which,  when  it  was  con- 
•ferred  on  the  President,  startled  the  Republicans  of 
'that  day.  It  proves  satisfactorily  that  the  power 
was  designed  to  be  used  as  a  defensive  one,  and  not 
as  an  aggressive  one.  We  all  see  that  the  legislative 
and  the  executive  powers  are  coming  to  be  blended 
in  the  same  hands,  but  is  it  by  the  encroachment  of 
the  legislative  upon  the  executive  department  of  the 
government? 

Mr.  Hamilton  adds: 

uThe  primary  inducement  to  conferring  the  pow- 
er in  question  upon  the  executive  is  to  enable  him 
to  defend  himself;  the  secondary  is  to  increase  the 
chances  in  favor  of  the  community  against  the  pass- 
ing of  bad  laws,  through  haste,  inadvertence,  or  de- 
sign. *  *  *  *  The  superior  weight  and  influ- 
ence of  the  legislative  body  in  a  free  government,  and 
the  hazard  to  the  executive  in  a  trial  of  strength  with 
that  body,  aiford  a  satisfactory  security  that  the  neg- 
ative would  generally  be  employed  with  great  cau- 
tion, and  that  in  its  exercise  there  would  oftener  be 
room  for  a  charge  of  timidity  than  of  rashness.  A 
king  of  Great  Britain,  with  all  his  train  of  sovereign 
attributes,  and  with  all  the  influence  he  draws  from 
a  thousand  sources,  would,  at  this  day,  hesitate  to 
put  a  negative  upon  the  joint  resolutions  of  the  two 
houses  of  Parliament.  *  *  *  A  very  considera- 
ble period  has  elapsed  since  the  negative  of  the  crown 
has  been  exercised." 

Now,  sir,  I  appeal  to  the  country,  and  I  ask,  Have 
our  late  presidents  exerted  this  power  in  this  spirit? 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY   OF    PRESIDENT    POLK.     185 

Have  they  shown  any  reluctance  to  employ  it?  Is 
the  legislation  of  Congress  as  independent  and  unbi- 
ased as  it  ought  to  be?  Are  not  the  personal  opin- 
ions of  the  executive  too  much  consulted?  When  the 
President  returned,  with  his  objections,  the  French 
Spoliation  Bill,  he  was  guilty  of  a  clear  encroachment 
on  the  rights  of  Congress.  There  was  not  a  single 
principle  involved  in  that  bill  calling  for  the  execu- 
tive veto.  It  was  a  mere  act  of  executive  authority 
when  he  refused  to  sign  a  bill  which  had  received  the 
votes  of  large  majorities  in  both  branches  of  Con- 
gress, on  full  discussion,  and  against  which  there  was 
no  constitutional  objection. 

Story,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution, 
concurs  in  the  views  stated  by  Mr.  Hamilton  in  the 
Federalist  as  to  the  reasons  for  conferring  this  pow- 
er on  the  President.  In  the  13th  chapter  of  his  third 
book  the  subject  is  fully  considered,  and  the  first  and 
main  reason  assigned  for  it  is  "  the  constitutional  ne- 
cessity of  arming  the  executive  with  powers  for  its 
own  defense,  to  prevent  the  President  from  becoming, 
what  it  is  well  known  the  governors  of  some  of  the 
states  are,  a  mere  pageant  and  shadow  of  magistracy." 
A  full  examination  of  the  debates  on  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  of  the  writings  of  other  able  commentators, 
to  which  I  have  not  time  to  refer,  would  strengthen 
the  views  which  I  have  presented,  and  clearly  show 
how  widely  our  later  presidents  have  departed  from 
the  principles  and  the  examples  of  earlier  times. 
From  the  day  when  the  Roman  tribune  took  his  seat 
at  the  entrance  of  the  senate  chamber,  and  arrested 
the  decrees  of  that  body  by  the  word  u  VETO,"  up  to 


186      REVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

the  present  hour,  there  have  been  more  instances  of 
its  arbitrary  exercise  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  standing  at  the  head  of  a  modern  republican 
government,  than  the  whole  history  of  nations  besides 
can  show.  Mr.  Burke,  in  his  letter  to  the  sheriffs  of 
Bristol,  remarks, 

"The  king's  negative  to  bills  is  one  of  the  most 
undisputed  of  the  royal  prerogatives,  and  it  extends 
to  all  cases  whatsoever.  I  am  far  from  certain  that, 
if  several  laws  which  I  know  had  fallen  under  the 
stroke  of  that  sceptre,  the  public  would  have  had  a 
very  great  loss.  But  it  is  not  the  propriety  of  the 
exercise  which  is  in  question;  the  exercise  itself  is 
wisely  forborne.  Its  repose  may  be  the  preservation 
of  its  existence,  and  its  existence  may  be  the  means 
of  saving  the  Constitution  itself  on  an  occasion  wor- 
thy of  bringing  it  forth." 

This  is  the  language  of  Edmund  Burke,  a  man  dis- 
tinguished as  much  for  his  regard  for  the  rights  of 
the  people  as  for  his  genius  and  his  learning.  The 
exercise  of  this  great  power  is,  in  the  British  govern- 
ment, wisely  forborne ;  it  has  not  been  employed  in 
England  since  1692. 

But,  sir,  there  are  other  considerations  involved  in 
the  political  contest  now  going  on  in  the  country. 
The  Democratic  party  is  committed  to  a  policy  which 
leads  to  aggression,  war,  and  conquest,  while  the 
Whigs  desire  to  preserve  peace  with  all  the  world,  to 
stimulate  the  industry,  and  to  develop  the  resources 
of  the  country.  California  and  New  Mexico  are  ours, 
and  costly  acquisitions  we  must  admit  them  to  be ; 
Yucatan  has  barely  escaped  our  grasp ;  and  what 


REVIEW   OF  THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK.      187 

other  neighboring  provinces  are  next  to  be  overrun, 
and  conquered,  and  annexed,  no  man  can  tell.  Our 
true  policy  is  peace.  We  are  set  apart  by  a  dividing 
ocean  from  the  Old  World ;  we  have  nothing  to  do 
with  its  complicated  system ;  we  have  no  balance  of 
power  to  preserve — no  intervention  to  make  in  the 
affairs  of  other  nations.  We  should  desire  friendly 
relations  with  every  people,  entangling  alliances  with 
none.  When  the  rights  or  the  honor  of  the  country 
demand  it,  we  will  go  to  war,  as  we  have  done  twice 
with  Great  Britain ;  but  war  is  too  great  a  calamity, 
and  too  much  opposed  to  the  principles  of  Christian 
civilization  for  any  insufficient  cause.  With  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  we  shall  advance  rapidly  enough  in  a  career 
of  peace.  Our  political  system  is  at  once  great  and 
economical ;  it  should  be  kept  so.  We  need  never  go  to 
war  to  extend  our  territory  or  to  increase  our  wealth 
and  power.  Patrick  Henry  said,  in  the  true  Ameri- 
can spirit,  "Those  nations  which  have  gone  forth  in 
search  of  grandeur,  power,  and  splendor,  have  also 
fallen  a  sacrifice  and  been  victims  to  their  own  folly.1' 

I  was  struck  last  summer  with  an  article  which 
met  my  eye  in  one  of  the  best  Reviews  of  our  day,  a 
French  Review,  "La  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,"in 
which  the  writer  says, 

"The  spectacle  which  North  America  offers  us  to- 
day is  nothing  less  than  the  whole  of  the  New  Con- 
tinent learning  to  recognize  its  masters  in  the  Anglo- 
Americans,  in  education ;  and  the  simple  and  beau- 
tiful Constitution  of  1789,  aft'  j  half  a  century  only 
of  existence,  extending  an  influence  under  which  all 
must  come,  sooner  or  later." 


188      REVIEW   OF   THE    POLICY   OP    PRESIDENT    POLK. 

This  great  triumph,  if  we  are  true  to  our  principles, 
will  be  accomplished  without  arms. 

Which  of  these  two  parties,  holding  these  opposing 
sentiments,  will  control  the  government  ?  The  fate 
of  this  country  and  the  peace  of  the  world  depend  on 
the  issue.  It  is  almost  as  if  the  direct  question  of 
peace  or  war  were  put  to  the  people. 

The  two  candidates  who  are  presented  to  the  coun- 
try for  the  high  office  of  the  presidency  represent  pre- 
cisely the  ideas  which  I  have  endeavored  to  exhibit 
as  belonging  to  the  two  parties. 

General  Cass  is  the  very  embodiment  of  the  ag- 
gressive tendencies  of  the  Democratic  party.  When 
has  he  ever  been  found  on  the  side  of  peace  ?  When 
did  he  ever  advocate  moderation  ?  Was  it  when  the 
Oregon  question  was  before  the  country  ?  He  stood 
out  against  the  adjustment  of  that  question  to  the  last 
moment.  He  contended  for  the  boundary  of  54°  40'. 
When  the  country  demanded  a  settlement  upon  the 
barrier  of  49°,  he  would  have  involved  two  great 
Christian  and  kindred  nations  in  war  rather  than 
yield  up  a  portion  of  remote  territory  which  had  long 
been  in  dispute.  What  would  have  been  the  result 
if  he  had  then  been  President  ?  He  displayed  the 
same  spirit  when  the  Mexican  question  came  up. 
He  was  eager  for  war — would  not  listen  to  sober 
counsels,  but  brought  all  his  influence  to  bear  against 
the  wise  and  pacific  policy  of  Mr.  Calhoun.  But  on 
territorial  acquisitions  he  would  "  swallow  the  whole 
of  Mexico."  He  earnestly  advocated  the  scheme  of 
pouring  our  troops  into  Yucatan,  and  was  ready  to 
seize  Cuba  upon  the  slightest  pretext.  He,  day  after 


REVIEW    OF    THE    POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT    POLK.      189 

day,  urged  the  adoption  of  the  Ten  Regiment  Bill  when 
peace  was  at  hand,  and  by  that  single  measure  would 
have  involved  the  country  in  a  useless  expenditure 
of  three  millions  of  dollars.  His  public  character  is 
well  known  in  Europe.  An  eminent  British  states- 
man has  sketched  it  with  surprising  fidelity.  Lord 
Brougham,  in  his  speech  in  the  House  of  Lords  on 
the  Ashburton  treaty,  said,  in  reference  to  the  alarm- 
ing crisis  through  which  England  and  America  had 
just  passed, 

"It  was  thus  rendered  inevitably  certain  that,  if 
any  mischance  had  happened  to  peace  in  Europe — if 
any  war,  or  any  thing  like  war,  had  broken  out  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  one  spark  of  that  fire  which 
would  then  have  broken  out  in  the  Old  World,  borne 
across  the  ocean,  would  have  kindled  the  train,  thus 
ready  laid  to  explode,  extended  this  flame  to  America, 
and  involved  the  New  World  as  well  as  the  Old  in 
endless  war.  And  if  I  am  asked  whether  there  was 
any  likelihood  of  that  spark  being  flung  off,  I  must 
refer,  though  I  am  loath  to  broach  any  matters  but 
those  immediately  under  discussion,  to  a  man  exist- 
ing in  France,  who  may  be  said  to  have  been,  and 
still  to  be,  the  impersonation  of  hostile  feeling,  the 
promoter  of  discord  between  America  and  England." 

Lord  Brougham  proceeded  to  name  General  Cass 
as  this  man,  and  to  describe  his  character  and  course 
in  terms  which  I  forbear  to  quote,  because  I  do  not 
concur  in  some  of  his  sentiments.  I  refer  to  this 
speech  to  show  that  General  Cass's  belligerent  quali- 
ties are  as  well  known  in  Europe  as  they  are  in  Amer- 
ica. Such,  sir,  is  General  Cass,  and  it  is  not  easy  to 


190      REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT    POLK. 

imagine  how  the  government  could  be  intrusted  to 
more  dangerous  hands. 

I  turn  with  pleasure  to  the  candidate  of  the  Whig 
party,  General  Taylor,  great  as  a  soldier,  and  greater 
yet  as  a  man.  His  life  has  been  passed  in  the  camp, 
and  yet  he  regards  uwar  at  all  times  and  under  all 
circumstances  as  a  national  calamity,  to  be  avoided, 
if  compatible  with  the  national  honor. "  There  is  noth- 
ing of  a  boastful  spirit  in  this  beautiful  language. 
It  is  the  sentiment  of  one  who  knows  what  war  is, 
and  who  knows  how  to  estimate  the  cost  of  even  the 
most  brilliant  victories.  Nor  is  he  ambitious  of  con- 
quests ;  he  comprehends  the  true  glory  of  his  coun- 
try, and  sees  that  its  prosperity  is  to  be  advanced  by 
adopting  a  magnanimous  and  pacific  policy  in  our 
intercourse  with  other  nations.  "The  principles  of 
our  government,  as  well  as  its  true  policy,  is  opposed 
to  the  subjugation  of  other  nations,  and  the  dismem- 
berment of  other  countries  by  conquest"  His  idea 
of  the  relation  between  the  executive  and  Congress 
is  singularly  clear  and  just,  and  is  admirably  ex- 
pressed: 

"The  personal  opinions  of  the  individual  who  may 
happen  to  occupy  the  executive  chair  ought  not  to 
control  the  action  of  Congress  upon  questions  of  do- 
mestic policy,  nor  ought  his  objections  to  be  inter- 
posed where  questions  of  constitutional  power  have 
been  settled  by  the  various  departments  of  govern- 
ment, and  acquiesced  in  by  the  people." 

In  a  single  letter  he  has  shed  the  clearest  light 
upon  a  subject  to  which  I  have  already  referred;  I 
mean,  sir,  the  power  conferred  on  the  President  to 


REVIEW    OF   THE    POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT    POLK.      191 

arrest  the  legislation  of  Congress  by  the  interposition 
of  his  veto : 

uThe  power  given  by  the  Constitution  to  the  ex- 
ecutive to  interpose  his  veto  is  a  high  conservative 
power,  but,  in  my  opinion,  should  never  be  exercised 
except  in  cases  of  clear  violation  of  the  Constitution, 
or  manifest  haste  and  want  of  consideration  by  Con- 
gress." 

Such  are  General  Taylor's  opinions,  and  they  will 
commend  themselves  to  the  people  of  this  whole 
country.  His  conception  of  the  dignity,  the  respon- 
sibility, and  the  duties  of  the  executive,  his  respect 
for  the  legislative  powers  of  Congress,  and  his  readi- 
ness to  obey  the  popular  will  within  the  limits  of  the 
Constitution,  show  him  to  be  eminently  qualified  for 
the  great  trust  which  we  wish  to  commit  to  his  hands. 
His  position  is  a  noble  one.  Without  solicitation 
on  his  part,  he  has  been  brought  before  the  country 
as  a  candidate  for  the  first  office  in  the  government, 
and  such  is  the  confidence  in  his  integrity  that  no 
pledges  are  demanded  from  him.  The  strongest 
pledge  which  the  country  can  have  is  to  be  found  in 
his  own  great  qualities.  Unselfish  and  unambitious, 
he  yields  himself  to  the  call  of  his  countrymen ;  he 
has  no  private  purposes  to  accomplish,  no  party  pro- 
jects to  build  up,  no  enemies  to  punish — nothing  to 
serve  but  his  country.  His  great  character  is  glori- 
ously exhibited  in  his  military  career.  "We  are  at  a 
loss  whether  to  admire  most  his  faithful  discharge  of 
every  duty,  his  genius  and  courage  in  battle,  or  the 
humanity  which  impelled  him,  when  the  battle  was 
over,  to  minister  to  suffering.  The  eagles  of  his 


192     REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY  OP   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

country  have  never  known  defeat  when  borne  by  him. 
There  is  a  self-reliance  about  him — a  consciousness 
of  strength — a  determination  to  drive  his  enemy  be- 
fore him,  which  makes  an  army  under  his  command 
invincible.  Cromwell  was  accustomed  to  ride  down 
at  the  head  of  his  Ironsides  against  the  most  for- 
midable hosts,  and  dash  against  them  like  a  living 
avalanche  which  nothing  could  resist ;  and,  like  him, 
Taylor,  with  his  strong  will,  his  iron  purpose,  and  his 
unflinching  courage,  has,  at  the  head  of  a  few  well- 
trained  American  troops,  driven  before  him  powerful 
armies.  Perhaps  in  the  history  of  the  world  the 
power  of  a  single  will  was  never  more  triumphantly 
exhibited  than  it  was  at  Buena  Vista.  Taylor  had 
been  advised  to  fall  back  for  safety  on  Monterey. 
Stripped  of  some  of  his  best  troops — far  advanced  in 
the  enemy's  country,  with  an  army  numbering  only 
about  four  thousand,  and  but  one  tenth  of  them  reg- 
ulars— with  no  reserved  force  to  support  him — with 
the  intelligence  brought  in  that  Santa  Anna,  at  the 
head  of  twenty  thousand  men,  was  marching  against 
him,  there  he  took  his  position  in  a  gorge  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  and  determined  to  meet  the  shock  of 
battle.  If  we  desire  to  know  what  thoughts  occu- 
pied the  mind  of  the  American  commander  when  he 
took  that  responsibility,  we  have  only  to  open  a  let- 
ter written  to  a  friend  the  evening  before  the  battle. 
Comprehending  the  danger  of  his  position,  and  con- 
scious that  a  great  struggle  awaited  him,  he  commits 
to  writing  the  sentiments  which  filled  his  heart: 

"  This  may  be  the  last  communication  you  will  re- 
ceive from  me.     I  have  been  stripped  by  the  govern- 


REVIEW   OP   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK.      193 

ment  of  regular  troops,  and  reduced  in  volunteers; 
and  thus  stripped,  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  foe,  I  have 
been  expected  by  my  country  to  retreat  or  resign. 
But  I  shall  do  neither.  I  care  not  for  myself,  but 
I  feel  deeply  for  the  noble  soldiers  who  are  about  to 
be  sacrificed  by  then*  country.  We  shall  stand  and 
give  them  battle,  relying  on  a  just  Providence  for  a 
right  result." 

No,  sir,  he  would  neither  retreat  nor  resign ;  he 
would  fight.  There  flashed  forth  a  great  spirit :  the 
battle  came ;  the  odds  were  fearful,  but  who  could 
doubt  the  result  when  American  troops  stood  in  that 
modern  Thermopylae,  and  in  the  presence  of  such  a 
leader  ?  It  was  in  vain  that  Mexican  artillery  play- 
ed upon  their  ranks,  or  Mexican  infantry  bore  down 
with  the  bayonet,  or  Mexican  lancers  charged.  The 
spirit  of  the  great  leader  pervaded  the  men  who  fought 
with  him,  and  a  single  glance  of  his  eye  could  reani- 
mate a  wavering  column.  Like  Napoleon  at  the 
Danube,  he  held  his  men  under  fire  because  he  was 
exposed  to  it  himself;  and,  like  him,  wherever  he  rode 
along  the  lines,  mounted  on  a  white  charger,  a  con- 
spicuous mark  for  balls,  men  would  stand  and  be  shot 
down,  but  they  would  not  give  way.  Of  Taylor  on 
that  day  it  may  be  said,  as  it  has  been  said  of  Lannes 
at  Montebello,  "He  was  the  rock  of  that  battle-field 
around  which  men  stood  with  a  tenacity  that  nothing 
could  move.  If  he  had  fallen,  in  five  minutes  that 
battle  would  have  been  a  rout."  That  battle  closed 
General  Taylor's  military  career,  and  that  battle  alone 
gives  him  a  title  to  immortality.  His  country  will 
now  need  his  services  at  home.  There  are  other  gen- 

N 


194     REVIEW   OF   THE   POLICY   OF   PRESIDENT   POLK. 

erals  to  whom  she  may  commit  her  armies ;  there  is 
but  one  to  whom  she  will  intrust  the  government. 

It  is  a  glorious  spectacle  to  see  such  a  man  called 
to  administer  the  government:  he  rises  far  above 
party;  he  looks  into  the  open  Constitution  for  his 
guide.  Men  of  all  creeds  welcome  him,  and  invoke 
God's  blessing  upon  him  in  his  great  task.  With  a 
slight  change  of  words,  we  may  apply  to  him  the  cel- 
ebrated prophecy  which  hailed  the  advent  of  a  Brit- 
ish sovereign  whose  reign  opened  under  auspices 
promising  to  advance  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  the 
realm : 

"  In  his  days  every  man  shall  eat  in  safety 
Under  his  own  vine  what  he  plants,  and  sing 
The  merry  songs  of  peace  to  all  his  neighbors.'* 


GOVEENMENTS  FOR  THE  NEW  TERRITO- 
RIES—THE NORTH  AND  THE  SOUTH. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES,  FEBRUARY  10th,  1849. 

• 

The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union,  and 
having  under  consideration  the  bill  providing  governments  for  the  new  Terri- 
tories, and  in  respect  to  slavery  therein,  Mr.  Hilliard  said, 

MR.  CHAIRMAN, — I  shall  follow  the  example  of  the 
gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Preston),  who  address- 
ed the  committee  a  day  or  two  since,  and  proceed  at 
once  to  give  my  views  of  the  importance  of  establish- 
ing a  government  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  territory 
recently  acquired  from  Mexico,  based  upon  principles 
which  seem  to  me  to  be  perfectly  proper  in  them- 
selves, and  which  promise  tranquillity  to  the  whole 
country.  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  importance  of 
this  question.  A  question  of  greater  magnitude  has 
not  come  up  in  our  time ;  and  in  addressing  myself 
to  it,  I  shall  endeavor,  so  far  as  may  be  proper,  to 
lose  sight  of  my  allegiance  to  party  or  section ;  I 
shall  hope  to  treat  it  as  a  great  American  question. 

In  my  judgment,  the  transfer  of  that  territory  to 
the  United  States  has  devolved  on  us  an  important 
duty — a  duty  which  we  can  neither  overlook  nor  neg- 
lect. We  are  in  full  and  undisturbed  possession  of 
an  extensive  region,  which  was  subjected  to  our  arms 
during  the  late  war  with  Mexico,  and  which  has  since 
been  ceded  to  us  by  a  treaty  concluded  with  that  re- 


196         GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE    NEW   TERRITORIES. 

public,  the  ratifications  of  which  were  exchanged  at 
Queretaro  on  the  30th  of  May,  1848.  By  the  terms 
of  that  treaty,  the  government  of  the  United  States 
is  bound  to  pay  to  that  of  Mexico  fifteen  millions  of 
dollars,  and  also  to  assume  and  pay  to  the  claimants 
all  the  amounts  which  may  be  due  to  them  by  reason 
of  the  claims  already  liquidated  and  decided  against 
the  Mexican  republic,  under  the  conventions  hereto- 
fore held  between  that  government  and  our  own,  as 
well  as  certain  other  demands  which  our  citizens  may 
have  against  the  Mexican  government,  not  exceeding 
three  and  a  quarter  millions  of  dollars. 

Now,  sir,  this  territory,  for  the  cession  of  which  we 
have  undertaken  to  make  these  payments,  is,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  in  our  possession ;  our  people  are 
at  this  moment  engaged  in  gathering  the  rich  treas- 
ures which  its  mines  yield.  It  has  been  wrested  from 
Mexico  ;  it  can  never  be  restored  to  her.  I  can  see 
no  mode  of  escape  from  the  payment  of  this  debt. 
In  my  judgment,  the  national  honor  is  involved  in 
making  the  payment  which  the  treaty  provides  for ; 
and  though  I  most  reluctantly  differ  from  some  of 
my  friends  who  have  already  expressed  themselves 
on  this  point,  I  am  compelled  to  say,  that  while  I 
clearly  recognize  the  right  of  this  House  to  partici- 
pate, to  a  certain  extent,  in  the  negotiations  carried 
on  by  the  other  branches  of  the  government,  so  far, 
at  least,  as  the  granting  the  necessary  appropriations 
to  perfect  these  negotiations  is  concerned — holding 
this  doctrine,  clearly  admitting  it,  being  quite  ready 
to  allow  that  cases  might  come  up  where  I  should  be 
in  favor  of  exerting  that  right  on  the  part  of  the 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE    NEW   TERRITORIES.          197 

House,  yet,  under  the  present  circumstances,  I  could 
not,  under  my  obligations  as  a  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican Congress,  vote  to  withhold  from  Mexico  the  pay- 
ment of  the  sum  which  we  are  bound  by  the  treaty 
to  make.  A  territory  torn  from  a  feeble  government, 
now  in  our  full  possession,  forever  separated  from  the 
republic  to  which  it  belonged,  must  be  paid  for.  To 
refuse  it  would  be  to  expose  ourselves  to  the  charge 
of  national  repudiation  in  a  very  offensive  sense. 
Whether  we  give  or  withhold  a  government,  the  ter- 
ritory must  be  paid  for  in  perfect  good  faith.  I  hold 
this  to  be  our  first  duty. 

Again,  sir,  I  think  we  ought  to  provide  a  govern- 
ment for  the  inhabitants  of  that  territory  with  as  lit- 
tle delay  as  possible.  Numbers  of  our  own  people 
have  already  gone  there,  others  are  on  their  way,  and 
these  will  need  our  protection.  By  looking  into  the 
treaty,  especially  at  the  ninth  article,  it  will  be  seen, 
too,  that  we  have  undertaken  to  protect  those  Mexi- 
cans who,  by  remaining  in  the  ceded  territory,  have 
become  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  their  liberty  and  property.  How  can  we 
discharge  this  duty  if  we  do  not  provide  a  govern- 
ment for  them  ?  How  can  we  protect  them,  unless 
we  extend  over  them  our  jurisdiction  and  authority  ? 
I  say,  then,  that  our  first  duty  is  to  pay  for  this  ter- 
ritory, and  our  next  to  provide  a  government  for  its 
inhabitants.  We  ought  to  do  both  as  speedily  as 
may  be. 

Heretofore,  every  attempt  to  provide  a  government 
for  this  territory  has  proved  fruitless.  An  import- 
ant question  involved  in  it  has  baffled  the  wisest 


198         GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES. 

counsels.  Before  proceeding  to  give  my  own  ideas 
of  this  great  question,  which  I  shall  do  with  diffi- 
dence, but  at  the  same  time  with  entire  earnestness 
and  candor,  I  shall  recur  to  a  history  of  the  attempts 
which  have  been  made  to  settle  it. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  some  time  during  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  a  distinguished  senator  from 
Delaware  (Mr.  Clayton)  brought  forward  in  the  Sen- 
ate a  measure  named  by  its  friends  the  Compromise 
Bill,  which  undertook  to  dispose  of  the  question. 
That  bill  sought  to  establish  a  territorial  government 
for  the  inhabitants  of  that  territory,  without  making 
any  provision  for  the  adjustment  of  the  conflicting 
claims  of  the  North  and  the  South,  but  turned  them 
over  to  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country,  to  as- 
certain the  extent  of  their  privileges.  It  passed  the 
Senate  after  an  interesting  debate,  and  came  to  this 
House,  where,  upon  the  motion  of  my  friend  from 
Georgia  (Mr.  Stephens),  who  sits  before  me,  animated 
by  the  most  patriotic  motives,  as  I  have  never  doubt- 
ed, by  a  vote  of  112  to  97,  it  was  laid  on  the  table. 
The  proposition  failed.  There  existed  too  great  a 
conflict  of  opinion  as  to  its  effects  to  allow  the  hope 
that  it  would  settle  the  question.  It  would  have 
divided  opinion  throughout  the  country  still  more 
widely,  ranging  the  Northern  and  the  Southern 
states  as  contestants  before  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  second  attempt  to  settle  this  question  appeared 
in  an  amendment  moved  by  a  senator  from  Illinois 
(Mr.  Douglass),  for  whom  I  entertain  a  high  respect. 
He  proposed  to  attach  to  the  Oregon  Bill,  then  be- 
fore the  Senate,  an  amendment,  extending  the  Mis- 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.          199 

souri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  the 
same  sense  and  with  the  same  understanding  in  which 
it  was  originally  adopted,  applying  it  to  all  territory 
now  belonging  to,  or  hereafter  to  be  acquired  by  the 
United  States.  That  proposition  came  to  this 
House,  and  was  here  rejected  by  a  vote  of  82  for  and 
121  against  it.  The  bill  went  back  to  the  Senate; 
that  body  receded  from  its  amendment;  the  Oregon 
Bill  was  passed  without  this  recognition  of  the  com- 
promise line ;  it  received  the  signature  of  the  Presi- 
dent, taking  away  from  this  measure  one  great  ele- 
ment of  adjustment,  of  which  it  should  never  have 
been  deprived,  and  this  question  is  still  open.  Now 
I  desire  to  say  that,  in  my  humble  judgment,  that 
would  have  been  a  perfectly  fair  settlement  of  this 
great  question.  The  line  which  it  proposed  to  stretch 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  a  marked  line.  It  had  a 
historical  weight  about  it.  It  had  the  sanction  of 
patriotic  example.  It  would  have  disposed  forever 
not  only  of  the  present  question,  but  of  all  kindred 
questions.  The  House  thought  proper  to  reject  it, 
and,  of  course,  I  must  acquiesce  in  that  decision. 

There  is  another  question  directly  connected  with 
this  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  on  which  I  de- 
sire to  offer  some  views,  and  which  ought  also  to  be 
settled.  By  the  joint  resolution  of  March  1,  1845, 
admitting  Texas  as  a  state  into  this  Union,  or, 
rather,  providing  for  her  annexation  to  the  United 
States,  it  was  enacted  that  the  state  should  be  form- 
ed, subject  to  the  adjustment  by  this  government  of 
all  questions  of  boundary  that  might  arise  with  other 
governments.  Now  it  is  perfectly  well  known  that 


200        GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES. 

Texas  had  a  disputed  question  of  boundary  with 
Mexico  at  the  time  of  her  admission.  That  state,  by 
an  act  of  her  own  Congress  of  December,  1836,  de- 
clared her  western  boundary  to  be  the  Rio  Grande, 
the  whole  extent  of  it  from  its  mouth  to  its  source, 
and  thence  due  north  to  the  forty-second  degree  of 
north  latitude.  We  annexed  Texas,  claiming  that 
boundary,  and  we  undertook  to  settle  her  quarrel 
with  Mexico.  An  attempt  to  do  this  by  negotiation 
failed.  A  resort  was  had  to  arms.  The  government 
of  the  United  States  proceeded  to  urge  our  right  to 
the  country  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Texas, 
thus  defined,  against  Mexico.  Now  it  will  be  very 
well  remembered  that  we  claimed  the  country  border- 
ing on  the  Rio  Grande  as  our  own  soil,  through  no 
other  right  than  that  which  we  had  derived  from 
Texas.  We  sent  our  troops  there  to  occupy  that 
territory,  distinctly  on  the  ground  that  it  was  em- 
braced within  the  limits  of  the  Republic  of  Texas, 
which,  having  been  annexed  to  the  United  States, 
devolved  on  us  the  duty  of  protecting  its  soil  from 
violation.  On  the  very  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande 
the  battles  of  the  8th  and  9th  of  May  were  fought ; 
and  here  I  can  not  forbear  to  say  that  the  crowning 
victory  of  that  second  day,  as  Cromwell  would  have 
called  it,  not  only  shed  its  undying  lustre  upon  the 
American  flag,  but  disclosed  to  our  eyes  one  who 
has  never  since  been  lost  sight  of — one  who,  having 
earned  upon  successive  battle-fields  a  military  fame 
which  gives  him  rank  with  the  greatest  captains  of 
any  age,  is  about  to  enter  on  a  career  which  will 
cover  him  with  as  much  civic  glory. 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.          201 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  claim  of  Texas  to 
the  Rio  Grande  as  her  western  boundary,  as  against 
Mexico,  it  must  be  seen  that  her  claim,  to  the  full  ex- 
tent of  her  limits,  as  against  the  United  States,  rests 
on  the  strongest  ground.  Our  late  treaty  with  Mex- 
ico has  put  us  in  undisputed  possession  of  every  foot 
of  the  territory  claimed  by  Texas  in  her  contest  with 
that  republic.  The  western  boundary  claimed  by 
Texas  before  her  annexation  to  the  United  States — 
a  boundary  which  this  government,  after  her  annex- 
ation, undertook  to  assert  and  to  secure  by  negotia- 
tion, and,  failing  in  that,  occupied  and  held  by  force ; 
a  boundary  which  we  have  compelled  Mexico  to  ad- 
mit, must  be  the  boundary  of  Texas  as  one  of  the 
states  of  this  Union.  There  is  no  longer  a  party  left 
to  dispute  this  boundary.  Having  extinguished  the 
claim  of  Mexico,  Texas  is  left  with  a  clear  title  to  the 
full  extent  of  the  limits  which  she  defined  and  assert- 
ed as  against  that  republic.  The  government  of  the 
United  States  can  not  appropriate  to  its  own  use  any 
part  of  the  disputed  territory.  It  reserved  the  right 
to  adjust  questions  touching  the  boundaries  of  Tex- 
as with  other  governments.  The  only  question  of 
boundary  in  which  Texas  was  interested  has  been 
settled  by  us  in  our  late  treaty  with  Mexico,  and 
this  government  is  now  estopped  from  saying  any 
thing  against  the  claim  of  Texas  to  the  boundary 
which  she  originally  marked  out  for  herself.  So 
clear  is  this,  that  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
in  a  special  message  sent  to  this  House  in  July  last, 
distinctly  and  fully  admits  the  claim  of  Texas  in  all 
its  extent.  I  very  well  remember  that  a  gentleman 


202         GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE    NEW    TERRITORIES. 

from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Duncan)  addressed  an  argument 
to  the  House  last  summer,  a  short  time  before  the  ad- 
journment of  Congress,  in  which  he  maintained  the 
claim  of  Texas  to  her  western  boundary  in  the  most 
clear,  satisfactory,  and  convincing  manner ;  it  is  an 
argument  which  I  think  any  gentleman  holding  dif- 
ferent opinions  will  find  it  difficult  to  answer. 

These  two  questions,  then — that  respecting  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  territory  which  we  have  acquired  from 
Mexico,  and  that  respecting  the  limits  of  Texas — are 
kindred  questions;  they  ought  to  be  settled  at  the 
same  time,  otherwise  you  transfer  the  dispute  as  to 
the  boundaries  of  that  state  to  the  new  state  which 
you  propose  to  form  out  of  the  territory  which  was 
involved  in  it  while  it  constituted  a  part  of  Mexico. 
At  this  moment  the  subject  is  within  your  control. 
When  states  shall  have  been  formed  and  admitted, 
it  will  cease  to  be  so  forever.  I  can  conceive  of  no 
question  more  delicate  or  more  difficult  than  that  of 
deciding  between  the  conflicting  claims  of  sovereign 
states  as  to  domain.  Yet  this  is  the  very  question 
which  you  are  about  to  bring  up,  if,  without  defining 
the  limits  of  Texas,  you  proceed  to  form  or  admit  a 
new  state,  asserting  its  right  to  territory  east  of  the 
Rio  Grande. 

It  is  better  to  avoid  this  great  question  by  wise 
legislation  than  to  turn  it  over  to  the  highest  judicial 
tribunal  in  our  country  for  its  decision,  after  it  shall 
have  assumed  the  gravity  of  a  dispute  as  to  domain 
between  two  sovereign  states  of  this  Union.  Let  us 
give  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  territory  which  we  have 
lately  acquired  a  government ;  let  us  declare  and  fix 
the  limits  of  Texas. 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE    NEW   TERRITORIES.          203 

Not  only  are  these  kindred  questions — they  are  dis- 
turbing questions.  They  have  never  ceased  to  excite 
us  since  the  admission  of  Texas.  Is  this  agitation, 
I  ask,  to  go  on  ?  There  are  persons  who  are  deeply 
interested  in  keeping  up  this  agitation.  Preferring 
tempest  to  tranquillity,  they  let  loose  the  winds  from 
their  caves  to  blow  upon  the  great  deep ;  but,  most 
fortunately,  we,  like  Neptune,  hold  the  trident  which 
can  still  the  wild  waters,  let  the  winds  blow  ever  so 
fiercely.  Shall  we  exert  that  power,  or  shall  we  sit 
inactive  in  the  midst  of  such  a  scene  ? 

Having  observed  no  disposition  in  any  quarter  of 
the  House  to  move  in  a  matter  which  is  certainly 
formidable  enough,  I  brought  forward  two  bills  which 
I  tendered  to  the  House,  and  desired  to  submit  to  a 
select  committee,  which  committee  might  give  them 
a  candid,  thorough,  patient  examination,  and  report 
upon  them.  I  did  it  because  I  believed  there  was 
merit  enough  in  the  proposition,  if  it  could  be  fairly 
brought  before  the  House,  to  give  hope  of  its  success. 
But  before  the  proposition  could  be  fairly  exhibited 
— before  even  the  whole  plan  could  be  presented,  the 
most  violent  opposition  was  shown  to  it ;  and  being 
unwilling  to  suffer  one  part  to  go  out  unaccompanied 
by  the  other,  I  withdrew  both  bills,  and  shall  offer 
them  as  a  substitute  for  the  bills  reported  from  the 
Committee  on  Territories. 

I  wish  now  briefly  to  explain  the  plan  to  which  I 
have  referred,  and  which  I  think  the  proper  one  for 
putting  these  questions  forever  at  rest.  I  propose  to 
authorize  the  people  inhabiting  that  part  of  Califor- 
nia west  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  form  a  Constitution, 


204         GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES. 

and  apply  for  admission  as  a  state  into  this  Union. 
The  boundaries  of  that  state  would  be  these :  lying 
on  the  Pacific,  extending  eastward  to  the  summit  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada  range  of  mountains,  it  will  have 
Oregon  on  the  north,  while  it  will  bend  with  the  Si- 
erra Nevada  range  in  a  southwest  direction,  finding 
its  southern  limit  at  the  parallel  of  34°  30',  where, 
from  an  inspection  of  the  map,  it  will  be  observed, 
that  range  of  mountains  touches  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
These  are  natural  boundaries.  The  waters  at  the 
southern  base  of  these  mountains  empty  into  differ- 
ent channels,  parting  as  on  a  dividing  ridge,  and  run- 
ning northward  and  southward.  Within  these  lim- 
its may  be  formed  a  state  which,  besides  its  great 
mineral  wealth,  its  beautiful  and  fertile  valleys,  and 
its  delightful  climate,  will  own  the  finest  harbcrs  on 
the  Pacific  coast. 

One  of  our  own  countrymen  (Fremont),  whose  gen- 
ius and  whose  training  eminently  qualify  him  for 
the  task  of  estimating  the  advantages  of  such  a  re- 
gion, and  the  fidelity  of  whose  descriptions  is  unques- 
tionable, says  of  that  part  of  California, 

"West  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  between  that 
mountain  and  the  sea,  is  the  second  grand  division  of 
California,  and  the  only  part  to  which  the  name  ap- 
plies in  the  current  language  of  the  country.  It  is 
the  occupied  and  inhabited  part,  and  so  different  in 
character,  so  divided  by  the  mountain  wall  of  the  Si- 
erra from  the  Great  Basin  above,  as  to  constitute  a 
region  to  itself,  with  a  structure  and  configuration,  a 
soil,  climate,  and  productions  of  its  own;  and  as 
Northern  Persia  may  be  referred  to  as  some  type  of 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.          205 

the  former,  so  may  Italy  be  referred  to  as  some  point 
of  comparison  for  the  latter.  North  and  south,  the 
region  embraces  about  ten  degrees  of  latitude ;  from 
32°,  where  it  touches  the  peninsula  of  California,  to 
42°,  where  it  bounds  on  Oregon.  East  and  west, 
from  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  the  sea,  it  will  average,  in 
the  middle  parts,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles ;  in  the 
northern  parts,  two  hundred,  giving  an  area  of  above 
one  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 

^c****^:^:* 

"  Perhaps  few  parts  of  the  world  can  produce  in 
Such  perfection  so  great  a  variety  of  fruits  and  grains 
as  the  large  and  various  region  inclosing  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco,  and  drained  by  its  waters.  A  view 
of  the  map  will  show  that  region  and  its  great  extent, 
comprehending  the  entire  valleys  of  the  Sacramento 
and  San  Joaquin,  and  the  whole  western  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada." 

This  will  give  us  some  idea  of  what  the  State  of 
California,  with  its  appropriate  boundaries,  is  likely 
to  become. 

The  territory  not  included  within  the  limits  of  that 
state,  nor  embraced  within  the  boundaries  of  Texas, 
as  I  propose  to  run  them,  may  be  governed  in  such 
manner  as  Congress  may  prescribe  until  it  contains 
sufficient  population  for  a  state. 

In  defining  the  limits  of  Texas,  I  would  cut  off 
from  that  state  all  her  domain  lying  above  the  par- 
allel of  36°  30'  north  latitude,  a  territory  of  great  ex- 
tent, which,  it  has  been  well  stated  by  the  gentleman 
from  Kentucky,  to  whom  I  have  already  alluded  (Mr. 
Duncan),  is  conceded  to  be  large  enough  to  form  at 


206         GOVERNMENTS    FOR    THE   NEW    TERRITORIES. 

least  two  states.  It  is  known  to  contain  43,537 
square  miles.  Let  the  northern  boundary  of  Texas 
begin  where  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  cuts  her  eastern 
boundary;  let  it  extend  along  that  parallel,  westward, 
to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  range  of  mount- 
ains, already  fixed  on  as  marking  the  eastern  limits 
of  the  State  of  California,  and  thence  follow  those 
limits  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  I  would  grant  to  Texas 
all  the  territory  lately  acquired  from  Mexico  south  of 
the  northern  boundary  which  I  have  just  sketched, 
subject  to  the  conditions  under  which  Texas  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union.  The  join*  resolution  for  an- 
nexing Texas  to  the  United  States  provides,  among 
other  things,  that  unew  states  of  convenient  size,  not 
exceeding  four  in  number,  in  addition  to  said  State 
of  Texas,  and  having  sufficient  population,  may  here- 
after, by  consent  of  said  state,  be  formed  out  of  the 
territory  thereof,  which  shall  be  entitled  to  admission 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
And  such  states  as  may  be  formed  out  of  that  por- 
tion of  said  territory  lying  south  of  36°  30'  north 
latitude,  commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise line,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union  with  or 
without  slavery,  as  the  people  of  each  state  asking 
admission  may  desire.  And  in  such  state  or  states 
as  shall  be  formed  out  of  such  territory  north  of  said 
Missouri  Compromise  line,  slavery  or  involuntary 
servitude  (except  for  crimes)  shall  be  prohibited." 

I  would,  of  course,  provide  also  that  all  public 
lands  within  the  territory  thus  granted  to  Texas 
should  be  reserved  to  the  United  States. 

These  are  the  great  features  of  the  bills  which  I 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE    NEW   TERRITORIES.         207 

wish  to  submit  for  the  consideration  of  the  commit^ 
tee,  and  they  agree,  in  the  main,  with  those  of  the  bill 
brought  forward  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 
(Mr.  Preston) ;  at  least,  we  both  desire  to  relieve  the 
inhabitants  of  the  territory  which  is  the  subject  of 
our  legislation  from  territorial  restraints  as  soon  as 
they  are  in  circumstances  to  form  and  maintain  a 
state  government.  We  differ  upon  the  subject  of 
boundaries :  he  would  give  the  vast  region  which  has 
been  ceded  to  us  by  Mexico  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
inhabitants  now  there,  who  are  mainly  concentrated 
in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Francisco,  and  authorize 
them  to  create  a  state,  stretching  its  authority  over  its 
whole  extent,  and  regulating  by  its  laws  the  right  of 
property  for  the  people  who  are  already  upon  the 
soil,  and  who  may  hereafter  make  their  abode  there. 
Now,  sir,  I  am  quite  ready  to  concede  to  the  people 
of  California  proper — a  community  residing  west  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada — the  right  to  form  a  state,  with  its 
proper  boundaries,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  allow 
them  to  stretch  their  jurisdiction  along  the  whole 
Pacific  coast,  and  embrace  within  their  limits  the 
whole  extent  of  the  vast  region  lying  outside  of  those 
proper  boundaries,  settling  in  advance  the  great  ques- 
tions now  before  the  country,  and  deciding  by  their 
laws  upon  the  rights  of  our  citizens  who  may  wish 
hereafter  to  reside  there. 

If  the  people  of  California  proper  are  ready  to 
come  into  this  Union  as  a  state,  let  them  come  in ; 
the  bill  which  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  provides 
for  their  admission.  But  why  should  the  whole  ter- 
ritory be  subjected  to  their  legislation?  The  right 


208         GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES. 

of  a  people  to  establish  a  government  for  themselves 
— a  great  popular  right,  which  I  shall  never  deny — is 
one  thing,  and  the  extent  of  their  domain  is  quite 
another  thing.  It  may  be  very  important  to  allow 
the  people  west  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  exercise  this 
right  at  this  time,  and  I  desire  that  they  shall  exer- 
cise it  speedily ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  wise 
or  proper  to  allow  them  to  subject  the  whole  extent 
of  our  lately-acquired  territory  to  their  laws  for  all 
time  to  come.  The  very  principle  for  which  the  gen- 
tleman contends  would  forbid  this,  for  the  grant  of 
such  a  power  as  he  wishes  to  confer  upon  the  inhab- 
itants already  in  California  would  deprive  future  set- 
tlers in  other  parts  of  our  new  territory  of  the  right 
of  establishing  a  government  for  themselves. 

The  bill  offered  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 
makes  no  provision  respecting  the  limits  of  Texas, 
but  leaves  the  boundary  of  that  state  to  be  ascertained 
and  fixed  by  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country. 

I  wish,  sir,  as  I  have  already  said,  to  settle  that 
question,  and  in  defining  the  limits  of  Texas  I  would 
deal  with  her  liberally.  I  would  reward  the  confi- 
dence with  which  she  came  into  this  Union  by  a  gen- 
erous reception.  I  would  treat  her  claims  as  a  pow- 
erful confederacy  ought  to  treat  the  claims  of  a  great 
state — a  state  heretofore  sovereign  and  independent, 
and  voluntarily  subjecting  herself  to  the  authority  of 
our  Constitution.  Do  not,  with  this  state  in  your 
presence  asserting  her  ancient  rights,  turn  her  over 
to  your  courts,  and  instruct  them  to  look  carefully 
into  "the  bond,"  and  then  fix  her  limits  within  the 
narrowest  bounds. 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE    NEW    TERRITORIES.         209 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  settlement  which  I  propose 
is  an  approximation  to  the  Missouri  Compromise 
line;  but  there  are  important  points  of  difference. 
By  that  line,  as  it  was  drawn  by  the  senator  from 
Illinois  in  his  amendment  to  the  Oregon  Bill,  Texas 
was  left  in  possession  of  her  entire  domain,  stretching 
up  to  the  42d  parallel  of  latitude,  while  the  Compro- 
mise line  was  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  cutting 
off  the  base  of  the  State  of  California  lying  within 
the  boundaries  which  I  have  described.  Now  the 
bill  which  I  offer  cuts  off  from  Texas  all  her  territory 
north  of  36°  30',  and  leaves  the  State  of  California 
in  possession  of  its  entire  territory,  pursuing  a  natu- 
ral and  great  boundary  until  it  enters  the  Pacific 
Ocean  at  the  parallel  of  34°  30'  north  latitude. 

So  far  as  slavery  is  concerned,  it  is  conceded  that  it 
will  never  enter  any  part  of  the  territory  lying  above 
36°  30'  not  embraced  within  the  contemplated  State 
of  California,  white  no  one  doubts  that  the  State  of 
California,  when  organized,  will  prohibit  its  intro- 
duction. That  part  of  the  territory  granted  to  Texas 
will  be  covered  with  a  population  who  will  tolerate 
or  exclude  slavery,  as  the  soil,  the  climate,  the  rela- 
tive situation  of  that  region,  and  the  wishes  of  its  in- 
habitants may  determine,  referring  that  question  to 
the  decision  of  the  people  of  the  states  hereafter  to 
be  formed  there.  I  suppose  it  is  admitted  that  Tex- 
as will,  at  some  day,  be  subdivided  into  several  states. 
By  the  resolution  of  annexation,  it  was  provided 
that  this  should  take  place,  with  the  consent  of  Texas, 
when  her  territory  contained  a  sufficient  population. 
I  am  willing  to  rely  upon  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the 

O 


210         GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES. 

people  of  that  state  for  their  consent  to  this  arrange- 
ment ;  if  other  gentlemen  are  not,  it  may  be  specially 
provided  for  in  this  bill,  by  making  it  a  condition 
precedent  of  this  extension  of  her  limits,  that  this 
subdivision  is  to  be  made  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States  at  some  proper  time,  to  be  judged  of 
by  Congress,  out  of  territory  lying  north  of  the  En- 
senado.  Gentlemen  representing  states  interested  in 
the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  all  territory  belonging 
to  the  United  States  may,  it  seems  to  me,  readily 
consent  to  vote  for  this  measure.  It  takes  from 
Texas  a  large  part  of  her  domain,  for  the  loss  of 
which  she  is  compensated  by  an  extension  of  her 
western  boundary.  It  does  not  establish  slavery 
within  any  part  of  the  new  territory  subjected  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  Texas,  but  leaves  the  existence  of  that 
description  of  labor  to  depend  for  the  present  upon 
natural  causes,  and  refers  it  hereafter  to  the  decision 
of  the  people  that  may  reside  there.  The  right  to 
decide  this  question  for  themselves  is  one  of  those 
great  political  rights  of  which  no  one  should  desire 
to  deprive  them.  The  states  formed  out  of  the  ter- 
ritory taken  from  Texas,  lying  north  of  36°  30',  would 
exclude  slavery,  while  those  lying  south  of  it  might 
tolerate  or  exclude  it.  But  the  great  advantage  se- 
cured by  such  a  division  of  the  territory  would  be 
that  a  class  of  states  lying  below  that  line,  as  well  as 
those  lying  above  it,  would  be  homogeneous  in  their 
character. 

Let  us  now  inquire  into  the  comparative  advant- 
ages which  the  northern  and  southern  portions  of 
this  confederacy  would  derive  from  such  an  adjust- 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.          211 

ment  of  their  conflicting  claims.  The  number  of 
square  miles  in  that  part  of  the  territory  lately  ceded 
to  the  United  States,  not  embraced  within  the  limits 
claimed  by  Texas,  is  526,078;  of  this,  New  Mexico 
contains  77,387  square  miles,  while  California  meas- 
ures 448,691.  It  will  at  once  be  seen  what  a  dis- 
proportion would  exist  between  the  respective  shares 
of  the  North  and  the  South,  if  all  California  should 
be  given  to  the  former  and  New  Mexico  to  the  latter. 

By  confining  the  limits  of  Texas  within  the  paral- 
lel of  36°  30',  and  extending  that  line,  as  I  propose 
to  do,  the  North  would  hold  possession  of  a  part  of 
the  domain  of  Texas  amounting  to  43,537  square 
miles,  of  California  303,457  square  miles,  and  of  New 
Mexico  33,898— in  all,  380,892  square  miles;  while 
the  South  would  receive  of  California  only  145,234 
square  miles,  of  New  Mexico  43,489  square  miles — 
in  all,  188,723  square  miles:  giving  to  the  North  an 
excess,  under  this  division,  of  some  200,000  square 
miles. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  territory  of  Texas 
alone,  which  would  be  cut  off  to  the  North  by  the 
line  which  I  desire  to  draw,  would  be  sufficient  to 
make  six  states,  each  one  as  large  as  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  or  a  single  state  larger  than  Ohio, 
and  nearly  as  large  as  New  York.  When  you  come 
to  survey  the  fine  harbors  embraced  within  the  pro- 
posed State  of  California,  especially  that  of  San 
Francisco,  which,  in  the  language  of  one  of  our  naval 
officers,  is  large  enough  to  contain  all  the  shipping 
of  the  world ;  when  you  come  to  consider  the  miner- 
al wealth  of  that  region,  its  productive  soil,  and  its 


212         GOVERNMENTS    FOR    THE    NEW    TERRITORIES. 

beautiful  mountain  slopes,  you  perceive  that  the 
North  would  receive  the  lion's  share,  while  the  South 
would  hold  but  a  small  part  of  the  Pacific  coast,  em- 
bracing the  inconsiderable  harbor  of  San  Diego. 
Fremont  says  the  "Bay  of  San  Francisco  has  been 
celebrated,  from  the  time  of  its  first  discovery,  as  one 
of  the  finest  in  the  world,  and  is  justly  entitled  to 
that  character,  even  under  the  seaman's  view  of  a 
mere  harbor.  But  when  all  the  accessory  advantages 
which  belong  to  it — fertile  and  picturesque  depend- 
ent country;  mildness  and  salubrity  of  climate ;  con- 
nection with  the  great  interior  valley  of  the  Sacra- 
mento and  San  Joaquin;  its  vast  resources  for  ship 
timber,  grain,  and  cattle — when  these  advantages  are 
taken  into  the  account,  with  its  geographical  position 
on  the  line  of  communication  with  Asia,  it  rises  into 
an  importance  far  above  that  of  a  mere  harbor,  and 
deserves  a  particular  notice  in  any  account  of  mari- 
time California.  Its  latitudinal  position  is  that  of 
Lisbon;  its  climate,  that  of  Southern  Italy;  settle- 
ments upon  it  for  more  than  half  a  century  attest  its 
healthiness ;  bold  shores  and  mountains  give  it  grand- 
eur; the  extent  and  fertility  of  its  dependent  country 
give  it  great  resources  for  agriculture,  commerce,  and 
population." 

Add  to  this  extensive  and  important  region  (which, 
under  the  plan  we  are  now  considering,  goes  to  the 
North,  increasing  its  maritime  power)  Oregon,  with 
its  341,467  square  miles,  you  find  that  the  domain 
recently  acquired  on  the  Pacific  by  that  section  of  the 
Union  is  overshadowing. 

This  brings  me  to  a  part  of  the  question  which  I 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR.  THE   NEW    TERRITORIES.         213 

desire  to  press  upon  the  consideration  of  this  com- 
mittee with  earnestness.  Is  it  intended  to  exclude 
the  South  from  all  participation  in  our  acquisition 
upon  the  Pacific  coast?  Will  the  North,  with  its 
vast  Atlantic  possessions  and  its  vast  Pacific  acqui- 
sitions, insist  upon  shutting  out  the  South  forever 
from  all  participation  in  the  benefits  of  this  great  ac- 
cession to  our  maritime  power?  Can  not  our  insti- 
tutions, which  we  brought  into  the  confederacy  with 
us,,  and  about  which  the  Constitution,  from  the  very 
first  hour  of  its  existence— springing  into  being,  like 
Minerva,  full-grown — threw  its  protecting  aegis — can 
not  these  institutions  be  carried  there  with  us?  Are 
we  to  be  now  excluded,  thus  settling  forever  the  po- 
litical question  that  the  South  can  have  no  share  in 
the  acquisitions  which  may  hereafter  be  made  along 
the  Pacific  coast?  swelling  the  already  vast  power 
of  the  North,  and  making  the  disproportion  against 
the  South  still  greater. 

I  do  not  allow  myself  to  entertain  any  jealousy  of 
the  North.  On  the  contrary,  I  rejoice  in  the  pros- 
perity of  that  part  of  my  country.  I  glory  in  the 
great  qualities  of  New  England,  for  instance — quali- 
ties which  have  covered  rock-girt  regions  and  a  reluc- 
tant soil  with  every  exhibition  which  wealth,  and 
genius,  and  civilization  can  furnish — qualities  which 
have  been  gloriously  displayed,  both  in  peace  and  in 
war — -qualities  which  have  enabled  her  to  carry  the 
flag  of  our  country  in  triumph  over  the  ocean,  wheth- 
er against  British  vessels,  bristling  with  guns  and 
bearing  the  cross  of  St.  George,  or  in  the  quiet  pur- 
suit of  a  peaceful  commerce,  or  following  the  whale 


214         GOVERNMENTS    FOR    THE    NEW    TERRITORIES. 

into  the  Arctic  seas.  These  are  qualities  in  which  I 
claim  a  participation.  They  do  not  belong  to  New 
England,  they  belong  to  the  whole  country.  But, 
while  I  make  this  admission: — it  is  not  an  admission 
— while  I  proclaim  this  sentiment  with  all  the  warmth 
of  my  heart,  I  desire  to  say  with  equal  sincerity  that, 
in  my  judgment,  the  balance  of  power  which  has 
heretofore  been  maintained  by  the  two  great  sections 
of  our  confederacy  is  essential  to  wise  and  conserva- 
tive legislation,  and  to  the  preservation  of  our  insti- 
tutions. Firmly  believing  this — it  is  from  no  hostil- 
ity to  the  North,  it  is  from  a  profound  conviction 
that  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country  demand 
that  this  equipoise,  if  possible,  shall  be  maintained — 
believing  this,  as  I  do,  I  can  not  give  my  consent  to 
any  policy  which  shall  strengthen  the  disproportion 
against  the  South,  or  make  the  influence  of  the  North 
still  more  powerful.  If  any  bill  is  to  pass  this  body 
by  which  the  South  is  to  be  shut  out  from  all  partic- 
ipation in  our  late  acquisitions,  that  bill  must  pass 
without  my  aid. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  about  to  make  a  statement 
which  may  be  thought  to  have  the  demerit  of  too 
much  frankness.  I  shall  make  it  in  all  candor. 
There  is  a  domestic  institution  in  the  South  which 
in  some  sort  insulates  us  from  all  mankind.  The 
civilized  world  is  against  us.  !  I  know  it;  I  compre- 
hend it ;  I  feel  it.  A  sentiment  which  took  its  birth 
in  England,  which  has  since  spread  over  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe,  which  now  covers  a  large  propor- 
tion of  our  own  country — that  sentiment,  gathering 
strength  with  every  advancing  year,  threatens  to  over- 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.         215 

whelm  us.  The  tide  has  been  rising  higher  and 
higher,  until,  sir,  we  begin  to  feel  the  spray  breaking 
over  the  very  embankments  which  surround  us.  Our 
moral  condition  at  the  South  resembles  the  physical 
condition  of  Holland,  where  dikes,  thrown  up  by  the 
ingenuity  of  man,  hardly  protect  the  habitations  of 
man  against  the  incursions  of  the  sea.  If  the  South 
were  in  a  commanding  position,  I  should  be  willing 
to  concede  much ;  but  because  of  her  very  weakness, 
I  shall  stand  by  her  to  the  last.  My  eyes  first  be- 
held the  light  there,  and  there  my  eyes  shall  close 
upon  it.  I  was  nurtured  in 'the  bosom  of  the  South, 
and  I  wish  to  rest  in  her  bosom  when  this  conscious- 
ness is  at  an  end,  and  this  form  wasting  in  the  dust. 
No  change  of  circumstances,  no  overwhelming  power 
arrayed  against  her,  no  decline  of  her  fortunes,  can 
ever  induce  me,  for  one,  to  forget  or  to  forsake  her. 

"  For,  though  the  ear  be  all  unstrung, 
Still,  still  it  loves  the  Lowland  tongue." 

Holding  the  opinions  that  I  do — representing  a 
people  thus  invested  by  the  civilized  world — I  can 
not  consent,  for  one  single  moment,  to  abandon  any 
part  of  their  claims.  Before  I  consent,  by  any  act 
or  vote  of  mine,  to  surrender  one  jot  or  one  tittle  of 
the  rights,  or  the  honor,  or  the  glory  of  the  South, 
umy  right  hand  shall  forget  its  cunning,  and  my 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth."  I  know 
that  the  gentlemen  who  surround  me  from  the  other 
portions  of  the  confederacy  respect  me  the  more  for 
the  sentiment.  If  the  South  can  not  rely  upon  us  to 
urge  her  claims  and  vindicate  her  honor,  where,  in 
all  the  earth,  can  she  look  for  advocates?  No;  rep- 


216         GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES. 

resenting  a  people  invested  as  we  are,  I  can  never 
give  my  consent  to  any  measure  which  diminishes 
any  portion  of  their  rights. 

I  have  already,  Mr.  Chairman,  shown  the  points 
of  resemblance  and  the  points  of  difference  between 
the  bill  offered  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr. 
Preston)  and  the  measure  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
submit.  Now  I  intend,  throughout  this  entire  speech, 
to  use  the  utmost  frankness.  If  the  whole  territory 
ceded  to  us  by  Mexico  is  made  one  state,  as  that  gen- 
tleman proposes  it  shall  be,  then  this  question,  for 
which  we  have  all  along  been  contending,  is  decided 
against  us.  Who  does  not  see  it?  Who  does  not 
comprehend  it?  The  very  regiment  first  sent  out  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  that  from  New 
York,  would  have  decided  it  against  us  long  ago; 
and  if  you  leave  it  to  the  people  now  there  to  settle 
this  question,  it  is  forever  gone.  I  see  it  too  well  to 
doubt  it  for  a  single  moment.  If  we  have  been  con- 
tending for  any  substantial  right,  it  is  to  be  given  up. 
I  do  not  know  that  we  can  do  better;  the  time  for 
protecting  the  South  was  when  the  treaty  was  before 
the  Senate.  There  was  the  field  upon  which  our 
rights  might  have  been  maintained;  and  since  that 
fortunate  hour  has  been  suffered  to  go  by,  it  may  be 
that  it  is  too  late  to  retrieve  our  fortunes.  But  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say,  in  full  view  of  my  friend  (Mr. 
Preston),  and  with  perfect  respect  for  his  patriotism 
as  well  as  his  intellect,  that  if  we  accept  the  bill  of 
the  gentleman,  we  shall  be  in  circumstances  precisely 
similar  to  those  in  which  Francis  I.  found  himself 
after  the  battle  of  Pavia,  and  in  writing  to  our  con- 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.         217 

stituents  we  may  employ  the  very  language  which  he 
addressed  to  his  mother:  "All  is  lost  save  our  hon- 
or." Who  questions  this?  I  admit  that  our  honor 
is  worth  all  the  rest.  But  who  does  not  perceive 
that  to  make  a  single  state  out  of  this  new  territory, 
and  to  allow  the  people  there  to-day,  inhabiting  a 
part  of  the  territory,  to  legislate  for  the  whole  of  it — 
to  subject  its  entire  extent  to  their  exclusive  jurisdic- 
tion— to  allow  them  to  decide  upon  the  question  of 
slavery  or  no  slavery,  is  substantially  to  abandon 
every  thing  which  the  South  has  heretofore  claimed? 
I  do  not  desire  to  influence  the  votes  of  gentlemen 
either  from  the  South  or  the  North;  let  them  take 
the  question  on  their  own  responsibility;  but  I  frank- 
ly give  my  view  of  the  effects  of  the  bill  which  the 
gentleman  proposes. 

It  is  said  that  slave  labor  can  never  be  carried  prof- 
itably into  that  region.  Why,  then,  I  ask,  seek  to 
exclude  it  by  odious  legislation  ?  What  patriotic 
motive — what  high  consideration — what  generous 
impulse  can  urge  gentlemen  to  press  upon  us  an  of- 
fensive measure,  in  advance  of  an  exclusion  which, 
they  insist,  will  be  as  certainly  secured  by  the  exist- 
ing laws  of  nature?  It  is  nothing  short  of  bigotry — 
mere  blind  bigotry — which,  in  the  language  of  an 
Irish  orator,  "has  no  head,  and  can  not  think — has 
no  heart,  and  can  not  feel."  Why  urge  a  measure 
of  this  sort?  Why  not  leave  to  the  laws  of  nature 
what  the  laws  of  nature  will  surely  accomplish? 

There  can  be  no  objection  to  the  size  of  the  State 
of  Texas,  with  the  boundaries  which  I  propose  for  it, 
that  does  not  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  State  of 


218          GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE    NEW    TERRITORIES. 

California,  which  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  pro- 
poses to  create.  If  it  be  said  that  Texas  will  be  too 
large  with  this  extension  of  her  boundaries,  I  would 
ask  if  California  will  not  be  too  large,  covering  the 
vast  region  which  is  to  be  embraced  within  its  limits? 
Do  you  object  to  extending  the  boundary  of  Texas 
to  the  Pacific?  You  must,  then,  also  object  to  ex- 
tending the  boundaries  of  California  from  the  Pacific 
to  the  limits  of  Texas.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that 
this  is  to  be  a  temporary  arrangement ;  that  the  new 
territory  which  I  propose  to  give  to  Texas  is  to  be 
subdivided  hereafter  f  into  states.  I  regard  it  as  a 
limited  subjection  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Texas — a  sub- 
jection which  will  cease  when  it  possesses  a  sufficient 
population  to  form  a  separate  state.  Virginia  was 
once  a  state  vast  in  extent;  so  was  Georgia;  but 
both  these  great  states,  animated  by  patriotic  mo- 
tives, have  surrendered  a  large  amount  of  their  terri- 
torial possessions.  Texas  will  follow  their  example. 

Neither  can  there  be  any  objection  to  altering  the 
boundary  of  California  or  New  Mexico.  Mexican 
provinces  have  no  fixed  boundaries  like  our  states, 
but  are  modified  or  subdivided  to  suit  the  convenience 
of  the  supreme  power. 

I  confess,  sir,  my  desire  to  secure  the  vast  region 
which  we  have  recently  acquired  by  treaty,  and  to  see 
it  embraced  within  the  Union  as  an  integral  part  of 
our  domain.  We  may  spread  our  system  of  govern- 
ment with  perfect  safety.  Our  progress  is  pacific. 
It  grows  out  of  the  inherent  energy  of  our  people 
and  the  character  of  our  institutions.  The  progress 
of  the  Roman  Empire  was  military ;  the  weight  of 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.  .       219 

its  chariot- wheel  crushed  every  thing  in  its  course; 
tribes,  provinces,  nations,  were  subdued  by  the  force 
of  arms,  and  were  held  in  subjection  by  resistless  pow- 
er. When  they  recovered  strength,  they  threw  off 
the  yoke,  and  turned  their  spears  against  their  op- 
pressors. Such  a  system  lost  its  strength  by  exten- 
sion. A  decay  of  the  central  power  suffered  the  re- 
mote possessions  to  feel  their  independence  and  as- 
sert their  liberty ; ,  and  an  empire  built  up  by  arms, 
covering  the  civilized  world,  making  a  single  city  the 
seat  of  boundless  imperial  power,  fell  by  its  own 
weight.  The  very  principle  upon  which  the  struc- 
ture was  raised  announced  the  certainty  of  its  destruc- 
tion. Our  system,  too,  is  a  representative  republic — 
local  in  one  respect,  and  federal  in  another.  In  the 
philosophical  language  of  Montesquieu,  quoted  with 
approbation  by  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was  one 
of  the  first,  if  not  the  first  statesman  to  whom  this 
country  has  given  birth,  "A  CONFEDERATE  REPUBLIC 
has  all  the  internal  advantages  of  a  republican,  to- 
gether with  the  external  force  of  a  monarchical  gov- 
ernment. As  this  government  is  composed  of  small 
republics,  it  enjoys  the  internal  happiness  of  each ; 
and  with  respect  to  its  external  situation,  it  is  pos- 
sessed, by  means  of  the  association,  of  all  the  advan- 
tages of  large  monarchies. "  We  can  afford  to  spread 
a  government  over  this  entire  continent — at  least,  so 
much  as  belongs  to  us — without  the  slightest  appre- 
hension of  internal  disorders  or  of  dissolution.  The 
truth  is,  we  find  our  strength  in  our  union.  Neigh- 
boring states  are  rival  states.  I  have  seen  it  recent- 
ly stated  that  the  wars  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIV., 


220         GOVERNMENTS    FOR    THE   NEW    TERRITORIES. 

and  since,  are,  at  this  day,  an  annual  charge  upon  the 
states  of  Europe  of  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars, 
besides  several  millions  more,  which  must  be  taken 
into  the  account,  for  maintaining  standing  armies  to 
protect  themselves  against  each  other.  Who  desires 
to  see  such  a  state  of  things  upon  this  continent  ? 
Who  would  give  away  any  portion  of  our  territory  ? 
Some  of  the  very  considerations  which  induce  me  to 
maintain  the  Union  as  it  is  now  would  induce  me  to 
embrace  within  the  Union  all  the  territories  which 
belong  to  us.  I  am,  therefore,  opposed  to  the  idea 
which  I  have  heard  thrown  out  in  conversation,  and 
sometimes  expressed  where  the  gravity  and  dignity 
of  a  speech  go  with  it — the  idea  of  cutting  off  any 
part  of  this  territory  which  now  belongs  to  us,  so  as 
to  make  an  independent  republic.  A  senator,  distin- 
guished for  his  intellect  and  his  learning  (Mr.  Ben- 
ton),  said,  I  believe,  in  a  speech  delivered  by  him  some 
years  since,  that  u  he  desired  to  see  the  god  Terminus 
placed  on  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  mark- 
ing the  boundary  between  the  two  republics— an  At- 
lantic republic  and  a  Pacific  republic."  I  do  not,  for 
a  moment,  participate  in  the  sentiment.  It  does  not 
meet  my  approbation  on  any  single  principle ;  and  I 
am  happy  to  see  that  distinguished  senator  himself 
now  urging  the  construction  of  a  great  national  high- 
way across  the  continent.  The  danger  of  border- 
wars,  conflicting  commercial  systems,  rival  interests, 
all  forbid  the  existence  of  an  independent  kindred 
state ;  the  national  safety,  national  tranquillity,  and 
national  glory,  all  demand  an  extension  of  our  polit- 
ical system  over  our  entire  domain.  I  trust  that  "the 


GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.         221 

god  Terminus"  will  never  stand  on  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, nor  on  the  Sierra  Nevada,  but  that  he  will 
sink  under  the  placid  waves  of  the  Pacific,  and  that 
our  government  will  be  outspread  over  the  entire  re- 
gion which  belongs  to  us.  I  desire  to  realize  the  pic- 
ture of  one  people  extending  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  living  under  the  same  laws,  speaking  the  same 
language,  professing  the  same  religious  faith,  bearing 
the  same  national  standard,  calling  up  the  same  glo- 
rious recollections,  and  looking  forward  to  the  same 
glorious  hopes.  This  is  what  I  desire  to  see  realized. 
The  sun  in  his  course  has  looked  down  upon  many  a 
glorious  exhibition  of  commercial  wealth  and  politi- 
cal power ;  he  has  seen  the  Assyrian,  the  Macedoni- 
an, and  the  Roman  empires  rise  and  fall ;  he  sees,  to- 
day, the  British  empire  in  the  full  pride  of  its  power ; 
but  never,  in  his  whole  course,  has  he  turned  his  burn- 
ing vision  upon  a  spectacle  of  commercial  wealth, 
political  power,  and  national  glory  like  that  which 
this  country  will  present  when  we  have  carried  our 
institutions  over  our  entire  domain.  For  one,  I  desire 
to  realize  it,  and  to  realize  it  as  speedily  as  possible. 
There  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  great  advantage  to  be 
derived  by  the  American  nation  from  the  acquisition 
of  California  as  an  essential  and  permanent  portion 
of  this  republic.  I  do  not  speak  of  its  mineral  wealth. 
I  allude  to  considerations  far  more  important — I 
mean  its  harbors.  We  need  harbors  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  We  must  have  them;  and  California,  as  it 
happens,  presents  the  finest  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
I  have  already  referred  to  the  harbor  of  San  Fran- 


222         GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW    TERRITORIES. 

cisco*  Before  we  pronounce  this  to  be  a  small  ac- 
quisition— for  I  can  not  consent  to  view  it  in  a  party 
light,  opposed  as  I  was  to  the  acquisition  of  territory, 
and  to  making  war  upon  a  feeble  people ;  opposed  as 
I  was  to  it,  I  regard  the  question  as  now  settled,  and 
I  am  prepared  to  estimate  the  full  value  of  the  acqui- 
sition— we  must  look  to  the  trade  with  Asia;  we 
must  look  to  the  gainful  traffic  of  the  Eastern  Archi- 
pelago and  of  China  before  we  pronounce  this  a  light 
or  trifling  acquisition.  The  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  we  shall  import  into  California  the  muslins, 
silks,  teas,  and  other  commodities  of  great  value  pro- 
duced by  China.  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  neighboring  islands  will  be  covered  with  an  in- 
dustrious and  civilized  population,  consuming  our 
products  and  exchanging  their  commodities  with  us. 
The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  our  Eastern  trade, 
now  carried  on  with  Asia  at  great  risk,  running  the 
gauntlet  of  the  British  naval  posts,  will  be  transferred 
to  the  tranquil  bosom  of  the  Pacific,  and  be  conduct- 
ed in  comparative  security.  The  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  an  idea  will  be  realized  which  I  remember 
to  have  thrown  out  in  the  first  speech  I  ever  made 
on  this  floor:  we  shall  have  a  rail-road  running 
through  our  entire  domain,  connecting  the  East  with 
the  West,  and  the  trade  and  travel  of  the  whole  world 
will  be  turned  across  this  road,  through  our  western 
ports,  into  the  Pacific.  I  confess  I  value  an  acquisi- 
tion which  brings  to  us  a  promise  of  this  sort ;  and,  for 
one,  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power — as  Mexico  has  lost 
the  territory,  as  it  is  now  in  our  possession — toward 
securing  it,  and  making  it  a  permanent  part  of  our 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.         223 

possessions.  When  the  institutions  of  this  country 
are  thus  carried  out — when  our  religion,  and  laws, 
and  civilization  are  seated  on  the  shores  of  the  Pa- 
cific— when  they  begin  to  spread  their  splendor  over 
the  neighboring  islands  and  upon  the  distant  East — 
then,  I  say,  this  country  will  present  a  picture  which 
the  philanthropist,  the  statesman,  and  the  Christian 
may  contemplate  with  unmixed  delight.  Let  it  come 
in  our  time — the  sooner  the  better.  I  earnestly  de- 
sire it  may  all  be  realized. 

But  while  I  have  this  feeling  in  all  the  strength 
with  which  I  have  expressed  it,  at  the  same  time  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  I  prefer  the  Union  of  these 
states  to  any  increase  of  wealth  or  any  accession  of 
power.  I  love  old  alliances  too  well  to  seek  new 
ones  at  the  expense  of  the  old.  Highly  as  I  value 
California,  glorious  as  is  the  picture  which  the  fu- 
ture presents,  I  would  cast  it  all  away,  as  my  eloquent 
friend  from  Indiana  (Mr.  Thompson)  said  the  other 
day,  rather  than  put  in  peril  this  Union  as  it  exists 
to-day 

Sir,  I  do  not  regard  the  Union  as  in  any  danger. 
Far  from  it.  But  the  time  may  come  when  the  fra- 
ternal feeling  which  gives  this  Union  all  its  value 
may  be  destroyed.  The  time  may  come  when  the 
lofty  patriotism  which  now  pervades  the  American 
bosom,  and  makes  the  American  feel — whether  tread- 
ing the  hills  of  New  England,  the  plains  of  the  South, 
or  the  prairies  of  the  West — 

"  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land," 

may  expire — when  every  thing  like  patriotism  shall 
be  lost,  and  national  glory  and  national  power  shall 


224         GOVERNMENTS    FOR   THE    NEW   TERRITORIES. 

be  maintained  at  the  sacrifice  of  that  sentiment  which 
first  brought  these  kindred  states  into  voluntary  and 
cordial  union. 

I  have  already  said  that  I  am  a  Southern  man  by 
birth,  by  rearing,  by  allegiance,  by  all  the  mighty 
sympathies  which  can  bind  the  heart  of  a  man  to  his 
people;  but  I  claim  the  wider  and  still  more  glorious 
privilege  of  being  a  citizen  of  the  American  Union; 
and  while  I  love  the  South,  I  should  love  the  South 
less  if  it  did  not  form  a  part  of  this  Union.  No  act 
of  mine  shall  ever  do  anything  toward  surrendering 
the  glory  and  the  rights  of  the  section  from  which  I 
come;  no  act  of  mine  shall  ever  do  any  thing  toward 
weakening  the  tie  which  binds  us  together  as  a  com- 
mon country.  I  have  heretofore  never  participated 
in  any  scheme  of  that  kind,  and  while  God  gives 
me  reason  I  never  shall.  I  will  encounter  any  haz- 
ard, here  or  at  home,  before  I  will  take  part  in  any 
combination  looking  to  any  such  purpose.  There  are 
rights,  many  rights,  dear  to  us  as  a  Southern  people. 
I  know  it.  But  no  man  shall  make  me  count  the 
cost  of  this  Union ;  no  man  shall  bring  me  to  the 
point  when  I  will  run  over  the  estimate  to  see  what 
I  can  afford  to  give  up,  the  South  or  the  Union.  I 
will  cling  to  both.  I  will  never  be  brought  into  a 
cold  arithmetical  estimate  of  that  description.  If  I 
thought  the  organizing  a  government  for  California 
would  put  this  Union  in  peril,  I  would  forever  with- 
hold that  government.  If  I  thought  the  surrender 
of  that  territory  was  necessary  to  the  preservation  of 
our  harmony  or  our  fraternal  feeling,  I  would  give 
up  that  territory  now  and  forever.  But  I  can  not 


GOVERNMENTS   FOR   THE   NEW   TERRITORIES.         225 

believe  that  all  patriotic  feeling  is  lost  in  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people.  That  can  not  be.  We 
have  the  manliness,  the  patriotism,  the  wisdom  to 
construct  a  government,  I  am  sure,  which  will  con- 
cede something  on  all  sides,  and  leave  us  all  far  bet- 
ter off,  because  we  shall  have  disposed  of  these  dis- 
turbing questions,  and  henceforth  we  shall  better  un- 
derstand each  other. 

I  see  my  time  is  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close.  I 
have  endeavored  to  exhibit  this  scheme  as  clearly  as 
possible.  I  know  that  in  the  short  time  allotted  to 
me  I  can  not  do  it  justice.  But  I  believe  it  possesses 
great  merits.  I  think  it  ought  to  be  seriously  con- 
sidered. I  do  not  pretend  to  say  what  bill  I  shall 
vote  for  if  mine  is  rejected,  or  whether  I  shall  vote 
for  any;  but  I  do  say  I  never  will  consent  to  any 
enactnlent  on  the  part  of  this  body,  if  I  can  prevent 
it,  which  makes  that  portion  of  the  Union  which  I 
in  part  represent  in  any  manner  less  in  dignity,  less 
in  glory,  or  less  in  co-ordinate  sovereignty  than  other 
portions. 

LET  THE  UNION  STAND,  AND  STAND,  IF  IT  MAT  BE, 
FOREVER  I  rejoice  to  hope  it  will.  But,  at  the 
same  time,  I  desire  to  see  harmony  prevail  among 
the  several  states  of  the  Union — harmony  like  that 
which  reigns  in  the  spheres.  If  we  must  rival  each 
other,  let  us  differ  from  each  other  as  one  star  differ- 
eth  from  another  star  in  glory;  and  let  us  be  held 
together  in  our  mighty  sweep  through  the  vast  orbit 
we  are  filling,  not  by  a  binding  girdle  of  iron,  but  by 
the  indestructible  power  of  universal  attract  ion, 

P 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION. 

REMARKS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
DECEMBER  12th,  1849. 

Mr.  Hilliarcl  said : 

THE  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Allen), 
who  has  just  resumed  his  seat,  affects  to  disregard 
the  declarations  which  several  gentlemen  have  made 
to-day  in  this  hall  in  relation  to  the  perilous  condi- 
tion to  which  the  government  is  now  brought,  on  the 
ground  that  they  have  spoken  under  the  influence  of 
passion;  and  he  treats  this  impressive  occasion  with 
unbecoming  levity,  in  likening  the  irrepressible  burst 
of  feeling  which  has  more  than  once  interrupted  the 
course  of  this  debate,  to  the  contrived  applause  which 
brought  one  of  Oliver  Goldsmith's  earliest  plays  into 
notice.  A  calmer  man  never  addressed  him  than 
the  one  who  now  rises  to  speak  upon  this  great  topic 
which  has  so  unexpectedly  been  brought  up  for  dis- 
cussion, and  I  say  to  him  and  to  this  whole  House 
that  the  union  of  these  states  is  in  great  peril.  It  has 
been  precipitated  into  this  condition  by  an  utter 
oblivion,  on  the  part  of  gentlemen  representing  the 
non-slaveholding  states,  of  the  feeling  and  purpose 
of  the  people  of  the  southern  portion  of  this  confed- 
eracy, in  regard  to  the  threatened  encroachments  on 
their  rights.  I  have  never  known,  throughout  the 
entire  southern  country,  so  settled  and  deep  a  feeling 
upon  the  subject  to  which  I  have  referred — the  at- 


.SLAVERY   AND    THE   UNION.  227 

tempt  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  territories  of  the 
United  States — as  now  exists  there.  And  I  solemnly 
declare,  speaking  from  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
that  people — a  people  among  whom  I  was  born  and 
have  been  brought  up,  that  if  this  legislation  is  to  be 
persisted  in,  THIS  UNION  CAN  NOT  STAND.  The  gentle- 
man (Mr.  Allen)  says  that  the  Union  is  in  no  danger; 
that  the  gentlemen  who  have  announced  its  dangers 
could  not  even  remove  one  of  the  marble  columns 
which  support  this  hall;  yet  I  would  remind  him 
that  the  hand  of  a  child  may  fling  a  torch  into  a  tem- 
ple which  will  reduce  the  magnificent  structure  to 
ashes.  He  and  his  associates  are  heaping  combusti- 
ble materials  against  the  lofty  columns  of  this  Union 
which  the  hand  of  a  child  may  at  any  time  fire.  It 
is  time  for  every  true  friend  of  the  Union  to  speak 
out ;  if  it  is  to  be  rescued  from  the  perils  which  in- 
vest it,  it  must  be  done  by  a  manly,  truthful,  bold 
declaration  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Southern  people. 
I  employ  no  threatening  language.  I  know  too 
well  what  is  due  to  others,  from  what  I  feel  to  be 
due  to  myself,  to  use  any  other  language  than  such 
as  I  desire  others  to  use  toward  myself.  I  address 
gentlemen  who  can  comprehend  elevated  considera- 
tions, and  who  will  act  under  the  promptings  of  pat- 
riotic sentiments  at  this  solemn  conjuncture.  In 
speaking  for  the  people  who  have  once  more  honored 
me  with  their  confidence  in  sending  me  here  to  rep- 
resent them,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  say  that,  while 
they  cherish  a  profound  attachment  to  the  Union, 
they  will  never  submit  to  any  legislation  which  places 
their  state  in  an  inferior  relation  to  the  other  states 


228          SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION. 

of  this  great  confederacy.  They  will  never  hesitate 
when  the  choice  comes  to  be  made  between  danger 
and  dishonor.  They  would  regard  a  dissolution  of 
the  Union  as  a  calamity — a  calamity  too  great  to  be 
estimated ;  but  they  would  esteem  submission  to  leg- 
islation which  at  once  deprives  them  of  their  rights 
and  degrades  them  as  a  still  greater  calamity.  For 
my  own  part,  I  have  never  admired  a  phrase  which 
has  become  somewhat  current,  that  uwe  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  calculate  the  value  of  the  Union." 

The  value  of  the  Union  which  binds  these  states 
together  is  incalculable;  its  priceless  value  defies  all 
the  ordinary  methods  of  computation;  it  is  conse- 
crated by  battles,  and  triumphs,  and  glories  which 
belong  to  the  past ;  it  embraces  a  people  of  kindred 
blood  scattered  throughout  these  states,  speaking 
the  same  language,  and  holding  the  same  religious 
faith ;  it  secures  to  us  innumerable  blessings ;  it  looks 
forward  to  a  future  still  more  prosperous  and  more 
glorious  than  the  past.  But,  though  all  this  be  so, 
it  may  be  destroyed,  and  will  be,  unless  the  measures 
which  some  gentlemen  in  this  hall  seem  so  resolute 
to  press  are  at  once  arrested.  A  brave,  generous, 
high-spirited  people,  who  comprehend  their  rights, 
and  who  know  how  important  it  is  for  free  states  to 
resist  the  first  encroachment  of  tyranny,  in  whatever 
shape  it  may  come,  will,  under  the  pressure  of  a  great 
necessity,  break  off  an  alliance  which  employs  the 
machinery  of  a  common  government  against  them 
without  pausing  to  cast  up  its  value.  The  Union  is 
a  government  of  consent,  not  of  force.  When  the 
soul  of  the  Union  is  fled,  how  can  it  longer  survive? 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION.  229 

When  the  fraternal  affection  which  holds  us  together 
in  willing  association  is  destroyed,  what  girdle  can  be 
thrown  around  these  states  strong  enough  to  bind 
them  ?  It  is  of  no  avail  that  you  point  to  a  future 
of  convulsion  and  blood  which  lies  beyond  the  hour 
of  our  separation.  Any  thing  is  to  be  preferred  to 
an  ignominious  submission  to  tyranny  —  tyranny 
which  revels  in  the  mere  wantonness  of  its  strength. 
Men  resign  life  rather  than  submit  to  that  which 
robs  life  of  its  value.  I  appeal  to  the  friends  of  the 
Union.  I  may  well  avow  myself  to  be  one  of  them. 
In  the  canvass  through  which  I  passed  last  summer, 
I  bore  in  my  hand  that  banner  which  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  (Mr.  M'Dowell)  described  in  that  elo- 
quent speech  by  which  we  were  all  so  much  moved 
at  the  last  session.  I  bore  that  great  banner  in  tri- 
umph. I  spoke  for  the  Union.  I  urged  upon  the 
generous  people  who  gathered  about  me,  and  heard 
me,  forbearance.  I  insisted  that  we  should  trust  to 
the  forms  of  the  government  for  protection  until  we 
found  them  insufficient  barriers.  I  vindicated  the 
people  of  the  Northern  States,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
declare  that  it  was  my  belief  the  unjust  legislation  in 
regard  to  the  government  of  the  territories  of  the 
United  States,  which  had  been  threatened,  and  against 
which  they  were  so  indignant,  would  never  be  con- 
summated. Now,  then,  gentlemen,  I  appeal  to  you; 
I  call  on  you  for  forbearance,  and  I  solemnly  declare 
to  you  that  it  rests  with  you  to  save  the  government 
from  the  perils  which  surround  it.  Upon  you  will 
rest  the  responsibility  of  settling  this  great  question. 
The  people  of  these  states,  the  civilized  world,  and 


230  SLAVERY   AND    THE    UNION. 

the  God  of  the  universe  will  hold  you  responsible 
for  the  consequences.  It  is  in  your  power  to  restore 
harmony  to  our  system — to  turn  the  government 
from  the  dangers  upon  which  it  is  driving;  and  you 
can  do  it  without  a  single  sacrifice.  The  Wilmot 
Proviso,  as  it  is  styled  by  those  who  claim  to  repre- 
sent that  measure  on  this  floor — the  Wilmot  Provi- 
so, which  seeks  to  exclude  the  citizens  of  the  slave- 
holding  states  from  California  and  New  Mexico,  has 
not  a  single  principle  to  recommend  it.  It  rests  nei- 
ther upon  generosity,  nor  justice,  nor  constitutional 
law,  and  it  asserts  a  doctrine  which  would  not  be 
tolerated  for  a  single  moment,  if  applied  to  the  ordi- 
nary transactions  of  life,  in  any  part  of  the  civilized 
world. 

Mr.  Schenck  here  interposed  to  give  his  views  of 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  disclaiming  that  name  for  it,  and 
asserting  that  it  was  the  ordinance  of  1787  which  was 
intended  to  be  applied  to  the  territories  of  the  United 
States. 

Mr.  Hilliard  resumed  his  remarks,  and  said,  What 
Virginia  generously  gave  was  subjected  to  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787.  I  shall  not  now  stop  to  speak  of 
that  ordinance ;  its  authority  was  questioned  by  some 
of  the  ablest  men  of  that  day ;  but  let  it  pass.  The 
attempt  to  settle  the  Wilmot  Proviso  now  on  the  ba- 
sis of  the  ordinance  of  1787  is  a  vain  effort.  The 
Wilmot  Proviso  is  a  selfish  scheme,  which  proposes 
to  seize  upon  and  appropriate  the  entire  territory  ac- 
quired from  Mexico  by  the  common  exertion,  and 
common  treasure,  and,  what  is  more,  the  common 
blood  of  the  people  of  this  whole  country,  for  the 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION.          231 

benefit  of  the  non-slaveholding  portion  of  this  con- 
federacy. The  people  of  the  Southern  States,  who 
bore  their  full  share  of  the  cost  of  the  war,  whether 
you  regard  the  outlay  of  money  or  the  still  more  pre- 
cious expenditure  of  human  life,  are  to  be  denied  any 
participation  in  the  fruits  of  the  victory.  Can  you 
expect  them  to  bear  it?  Would  you  not  despise 
them  if  they  did  ?  You  admit  that  there  already  ex- 
ists an  insuperable  barrier  against  the  introduction 
of  slavery  into  those  territories,  and  yet  you  insist 
upon  excluding  it  by  bringing  the  authority  of  this 
government — a  government  which  ought  to  protect 
the  rights  of  all  its  citizens  alike — to  provide  for  its 
exclusion  by  positive  legislation.  If  you  persist  in 
this  course,  gentlemen,  you  must  take  the  responsibil- 
ity of  all  the  consequences  which  grow  out  of  it.  A 
gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  now  before  me  (Mr. 
Clingman),  one  of  the  most  conservative  who  occu- 
pies a  seat  on  this  floor,  has  clearly  stated,  in  his  re- 
cent letter,  the  settled  purpose  of  the  whole  Southern 
people  in  regard  to  this  measure ;  and  he  added  that 
no  people  had  been  known  to  prosper  long  after  sub- 
mitting to  an  unjust  and  degrading  encroachment  on 
their  rights.  We  do  not  intend  to  furnish  another 
illustration  of  that  great  political  truth.  Spare  us, 
gentlemen,  the  necessity  of  choosing  between  submis- 
sion to  unjust  and  degrading  encroachments  on  our 
rights,  or  a  disruption  of  the  ties  which  bind  us  to- 
gether. 

Let  me  remind  you  of  the  relations  which  we  hold 
to  this  threatening  question.  Your  policy  is  aggress- 
ive, ours  is  defensive.  You  seize  the  machinery  of  the 


232          SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION. 

government  and  turn  it  against  us.  We  ask  you  to 
forbear,  and  to  leave  us  in  the  enjoyment  of  whatev- 
er rights  we  may  possess.  It  is  in  your  power  to 
save  the  Union;  it  is  in  your  power  to  destroy  it. 
Carry  out  the  measures  with  which  you  threaten  us, 
and  it  will  then  be  too  late  to  save  it.  You  can  not 
keep  down  the  elements  which  will  heave  beneath  the 
government  which  to-day  displays  its  glorious  pro- 
portions to  the  world.  The  internal  fires  of  the  earth 
can  not  be  kept  down  by  the  weight  of  the  mount- 
ains which  press  them ;  they  will  flame  up.  Nor  is 
there  strength  enough  in  this  government  to  keep 
down  the  feeling  which  the  consummation  of  the  in- 
justice you  contemplate  will  arouse  throughout  the 
whole  Southern  country. 

You  have  heard  Virginia  speak  through  her  Legis- 
lature ;  Alabama  has  passed  her  resolutions  in  sol- 
emn form ;  and  the  voice  of  Mississippi  comes  up 
like  the  rush  of  her  own  great  waters.  I  feel  at  lib- 
erty to  speak  out  plainly.  I  have  been  charged  with 
being  too  national — with  cherishing  so  profound  an 
attachment  to  the  Union  that  I  was  ready  to  surren- 
der the  rights  of  the  South  to  save  it.  I  do  not  re- 
gret a  single  exertion  which  I  have  made  in  behalf 
of  the  Union.  If  I  can  now  do  any  thing  toward 
averting  impending  calamities,  I  shall  gladly  do  it. 
But  I  can  go  no  farther.  If,  having  eyes,  you  refuse 
to  see,  and  having  ears,  you  refuse  to  hear — if  you  will 
not  regard  the  remonstrances  of  a  people  now  thor- 
oughly roused  by  the  unjust  measures  with  which 
they  are  threatened,  my  mind  is  made  up  to  stand 
with  the  people  of  that  oppressed  section  of  the  Union 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  UNION.  233 

in  resistance  to  your  measures  and  your  power.  You 
have  the  majority,  but  the  will  of  a  majority  can  not 
disturb  the  great  principles  of  the  Constitution,  nor 
can  it  interpret  the  Constitution.  In  our  government 
we  are  protected  against  the  tyranny  of  a  popular 
majority — the  worst  of  all  tyrannies — by  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Constitution.  When  the  power  of  the 
majority  transcends  the  limits  of  the  Constitution,  it 
ceases  to  be  law,  and  becomes  usurpation. 

Before  resuming  my  seat,  I  desire  to  allude,  if  gen- 
tlemen will  allow  me,  to  what  occurred  in  the  pre- 
liminary meeting  which  nominated  Mr.  Winthrop  for 
the  speakership.  [Cries  of  "  Certainly,  certainly" — 
"  Go  on."]  When  I  came  to  Washington,  it  was  my 
purpose  to  vote  for  Mr.  Winthrop  for  speaker.  An 
accomplished  gentleman,  admirably  fitted  in  every 
way  to  preside  over  a  body  like  this,  my  personal 
friend,  I  could  not  hesitate  to  vote  for  him.  When, 
however,  in  the  meeting  to  which  I  have  referred,  a 
resolution  was  brought  forward  which  was  intended 
as  the  basis  of  an  understanding  in  regard  to  pur  ac- 
tion upon  the  dangerous  question  of  which  I  have 
just  been  speaking,  and  when  I  found  that  we  could 
agree  upon  nothing  at  that  time,  I  saw  the  difficulties 
of  my  position.  I  did  not  expect  the  resolution  to 
pass,  but  I  did  hope  that  a  free  conference  would  fol- 
low, in  which  we  might  come  to  some  good  under- 
standing. Failing  in  this,  I  withheld  my  vote  for 
some  days  from  my  friend  (Mr.  Winthrop),  and  I  know 
that  this  was  felt  far  more  by  me  than  it  could  be  by 
him.  In  the  mean  while,  having  conversed  freely 
with  several  leading  gentlemen  from  the  non-slave- 


234  SLAVERY   AND    THE   UNION. 

holding  states  in  regard  to  the  slavery  question,  I 
found,  on  their  part,  a  better  disposition  toward  the 
Southern  States  and  their  rights  than  I  had  ever  ob- 
served before.  I  felt,  too,  that  the  House  ought  to 
be  organized  ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  was  in  ev- 
ery way  important  to  secure  a  speaker  friendly  to  the 
administration.  The  administration  ought  to  be  able 
to  bring  its  measures  fairly  before  the  country,  and 
this  it  could  not  do  with  a  speaker  and  with  commit- 
tees hostile  to  its  policy.  I  did  not  doubt  that  when 
its  measures  were  fairly  presented  to  the  country,  the 
people  would  sustain  the  administration,  for  I  believe 
that  its  measures  are  characterized  by  honesty  and  by 
ability.  In  the  hope,  then,  that  the  dangerous  legis- 
lation in  reference  to  slavery  would  not  be  pressed, 
and  that  the  influence  of  the  Southern  Whig  mem- 
bers over  that  legislation  would  be  far  greater  by  as- 
.  sociating  with  than  by  drawing  oif  from  our  North- 
ern friends,  I  determined  to  aid  in  the  election  of  our 
candidate  for  speaker. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  spoken  out  freely  what  I 
felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  say.  We  must  look  the  dan- 
gers which  threaten  us  in  the  face.  The  Union  must 
be  saved.  Do  not  suffer  men,  whose  vocation  it  is  to 
agitate  dangerous  questions,  to  drive  you  upon  fatal 
measures.  There  is  patriotism  enough,  and  there  is 
firmness  enough,  to  arrest  the  evils  which  threaten 
us.  I  repeat  what  I  have  said — those  of  us  who  sit 
with  you  as  representatives  from  the  Southern  States 
on  this  side  of  the  chamber,  can  go  no  farther. 

The  people  of  the  State  of  Alabama  look  to  this 
Congress  with  the  deepest  interest.  They  will  hail 


SLAVERY  AND   THE   UNION.  235 

with  joy  the  triumph  of  a  patriotic  and  magnanimous 
policy ;  but  if  other  counsels  prevail,  and  your  legis- 
lation should  be  so  misguided  as  to  deprive  them  of 
rights  which  they  hold  dear,  they  will,  I  believe,  throw 
off  the  authority  of  a  government  which  has  ceased 
to  answer  the  ends  for  which  it  was  created. 

I  still  hope  that  the  cloud  which  hangs  so  darkly 
above  us  at  this  moment  will  pass  away,  and  that 
our  country  will  go  forward  in  its  glorious  career,  en- 
joying the  highest  internal  prosperity,  and  giving  to 
the  world  the  noblest  example  that  has  ever  been  fur- 
nished of  liberty  and  order,  of  strength  and  tranquil- 
lity. 


ADMISSION  OF  CALIFORNIA.— PRESI- 
DENT TAYLOR'S  POLICY. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  FEBRUARY  14th,  1850. 

The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union,  Mr. 
Boyd,  of  Kentucky,  in  the  chair,  Mr.  Hilliard  addressed  the  committee  as  fol- 
lows : 

MB.  CHAIRMAN, — I  rise,  sir,  to  discuss  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  President  in  relation  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  territory  acquired  from  Mexico  by 
the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo.  His  views  are 
expressed  with  great  frankness  and  directness,  and 
they  ought  to  be  treated  by  us  in  the  same  spirit. 
That  the  course  which  the  President  has  thought 
proper  to  pursue  toward  the  inhabitants  of  that  ex- 
tensive and  distant  territory  has  been  adopted  under 
a  sense  of  duty,  and  that  his  recommendations  to 
Congress  respecting  the  future  political  condition  of 
its  people  are  prompted  by  patriotic  motives,  no  one 
can  doubt,  however  widely  some  may  find  it  necessa- 
ry to  dissent  from  the  policy  which  he  advises.  It 
is  his  desire,  to  use  his  own  language,  "to  afford  to 
the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  Congress  the  opportu- 
nity of  avoiding  bitter  and  angry  dissensions  among 
the  people  of  the  United  States."  He  informs  us 
that  the  people  of  that  part  of  California  which  lies 
on  the  Pacific  have  formed  a  plan  of  a  State  Consti- 
tution, and  will  soon  apply  for  admission  as  a  state; 


ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA.  237 

and  lie  recommends  that  they  shall  be  received,  if 
their  proposed  Constitution,  when  submitted  to  Con- 
gress, shall  be  found  to  be  in  compliance  with  the  re- 
quisitions of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
He  further  recommends  that  Congress  shall  forbear 
to  establish  any  government  over  that  part  of  the  ter- 
ritory which  lies  eastward  of  the  new  state  of  Cali- 
fornia, or  over  New  Mexico,  leaving  to  the  people 
the  privilege  of  governing  themselves  in  the  mean 
while  as  they  may  deem  best,  and  trusting  the  great 
question  which  now  excites  such  painful  sensations 
in  the  country  to  the  silent  effect  of  causes  which  will 
settle  it,  independent  of  the  action  of  Congress. 

This  is  the  policy  which  the  President  recommends 
to  us,  and  he  invokes  in  its  support  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism  of  Congress.  Never  at  any  time  have 
these  qualities  been  in  higher  demand  than  they  are 
at  this  moment ;  never  has  a  parliamentary  body  had 
greater  interests  confided  to  it  than  those  which  to- 
day engage  us ;  never  have  men  acting  for  their 
country  been  appealed  to  by  nobler  considerations 
than  those  which  address  themselves  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States.  Sir,  I  have  bestowed  upon 
this  great  question  the  most  earnest  reflection ;  I  have 
studied  it  thoroughly  and  with  the  most  sincere  re- 
spect for  the  motives  of  the  President  and  the  best 
wishes  for  the  success  of  his  administration.  I  find 
it  impossible  to  give  my  support  to  the  policy  which 
he  recommends.  I  shall  discuss  that  policy  with 
perfect  freedom.  I  hope  that  the  friends  of  the  Pres- 
ident will  ever  merit  the  tribute  paid  by  Tacitus  to 
the  Britons,  ' '  Utpareant  non-dum  ut  serviant. "  They 


238  ADMISSION   OF   CALIFORNIA. 

know  how  to  respect  power,  but  they  do  not  know 
how  to  serve. 

The  plan  recommended  by  the  President  leaves  the 
great  question  which  now  excites  such  angry  dissen- 
sions throughout  the  country  open,  at  least  so  far  as 
the  territory  embraced  within  the  boundary  claimed 
by  New  Mexico  and  Deseret  is  concerned.  I  desire 
to  settle  the  question — not  a  part  of  the  question,  but 
the  whole  question — and  to  settle  it  completely.  A 
partial  settlement  would  leave  the  great  controversy 
still  open;  the  agitation  would  go  on,  and  would 
prove  fatal  alike  to  the  tranquil  action  of  the  govern- 
ment and  to  the  interests  of  the  Southern  States. 

The  state  of  the  country  demands  that  the  subject 
should  be  disposed  of  by  an  adjustment  so  complete 
as  to  insure  repose.  Never,  since  the  moment  when 
the  government  was  established,  has  it  been  exposed 
to  dangers  such  as  now  threaten  it.  In  that  great 
contest  which  grew  up  from  the  application  of  Mis- 
souri to  enter  the  Union,  and  from  the  attempt  which 
was  then  made  to  impose  on  her  a  restriction  affect- 
ing  her  domestic  institutions,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to 
a  friend  that  he  regarded  it  as  the  most  momentous 
question  which  had  ever  threatened  the  Union ;  and 
that,  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle, he  had  never  felt  such  apprehensions  as  then  op- 
pressed him.  The  aspect  of  affairs  is  darker  to-day 
than  it  was  in  the  gloomiest  hour  of  that  contest. 
The  whole  strength  of  the  North  is  put  in  array 
against  the  South,  and  it  is  announced  as  their  set- 
tled policy  that  slavery  shall  be  confined  to  the  limits 
which  it  now  occupies  in  the  United  States.  The 


ADMISSION   OF   CALIFORNIA.  239 

North — the  populous,  teeming,  powerful  North — 
confident  in  its  strength,  forgetting  the  early  struggle 
through  which  it  passed  in  common  with  the  South, 
forgetting  the  spirit  which  animated  those  who  form- 
ed the  Constitution — a  spirit  which  existed  when  the 
South  was  the  stronger  and  the  North  the  weaker 
party — the  North,  planting  itself  upon  what  it  calls 
a  great  principle,  announces  its  purpose  to  limit 
slavery  henceforth  and  forever;  to  deny  the  South 
any  share  of  the  lately-acquired  territory,  or  in  the 
acquisitions  which  the  government  of  the  United 
States  may  hereafter  make,  whether  by  purchase,  by 
conquest,  or  by  any  other  mode  of  annexation.  A 
spirit  equally  determined  prevails  at  the  South ; 
throughout  that  entire  region  there  exists  a  single 
purpose  in  regard  to  this  threatened  aggression,  and 
that  is  to  resist  it  to  the  last. 

At  this  moment,  then,  sir,  when  the  North  and  the 
South  thus  confront  each  other — when  the  danger  of 

o 

collision  is  so  great  that  men  scarcely  know  how  long 
it  can  be  averted — when  one  of  the  most  experienced 
statesmen  of  the  country,  whose  long  and  brilliant 
career,  affording  him  the  opportunity  of  taking  part 
in  all  the  great  affairs  of  the  government  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  declared  but  the  other 
day,  in  the  senate  chamber,  that  he  rose  every  morn- 
ing expecting  to  hear  of  some  public  disaster  grow- 
ing out  of  this  alarming  question — at  this  moment, 
sir,  we  are  admonished  by  our  regard  for  the  welfare 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion promptly,  decidedly,  and  completely. 

To  admit  California,  and  to  leave  New  Mexico  and 


240  ADMISSION   OP   CALIFORNIA. 

the  country  now  known  as  Deseret  without  agreeing 
upon  their  forms  of  government,  would  merely  shift 
the  ground  of  the  controversy.  It  could  not  end  it. 
Slavery,  excluded  from  California  by  the  Constitution 
of  that  state,  would  leave  no  field  for  any  further  ex- 
ertion on  the  part  of  its  enemies,  but  they  would  en- 
ter upon  the  task  of  excluding  it  from  the  remaining 
Territories  with  a  zeal  quickened  by  their  late  success. 
The  President,  in  recommending  delay,  supposed 
that  the  softening  influence  of  time  would  operate 
favorably  on  the  question,  by  restoring  harmony  to 
our  councils,  and  reviving  a  patriotic  spirit  through- 
out the  country;  while  I  can  see  no  prospect  of  re- 
pose but  in  a  prompt  and  complete  adjustment  of  the 
source  of  our  dissensions. 

If,  sir,  the  tranquillity  of  the  country  demands  a 
settlement  of  this  alarming  question,  it  is  equally  'de- 
manded by  the  interest  of  the  slaveholding  states.  If 
we  should  admit  California  into  the  Union  as  a  state, 
with  the  boundaries  now  claimed  by  its  inhabitants, 
without  receiving  guarantees  for  the  protection  of  our 
rights  in  other  portions  of  the  territories  belonging  to 
us,  we  should  transfer  the  sceptre  of  political  power 
at  once  and  forever  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of 
our  institutions,  and  the  slaveholding  states  would 
enter  upon  a  fixed,  dreary,  hopeless  minority,  in  the 
face  of  a  growing  aggression  which  threatens  our  very 
existence.  To-day  we  hold  a  balance  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  but  the  entrance  of  another  non- 
slaveholding  state  into  the  Union  would  turn  that 
balance  against  us.  We  shall  never  be  stronger  than 
we  are  to-day.  So  far  as  we  can  read  the  future,  we 


ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA.  241 

must  expect  the  disproportion  against  us  to  grow. 
To-day,  then,  it  is  our  duty  to  ascertain  and  fix  the 
future  policy  of  this  government. 

The  time  is  come  when  the  slaveholding  states 
must  throw  up  barriers  against  all  future  aggressions, 
unless  they  are  ready  to  surrender  all  weight  in  the 
confederacy  of  which  they  form  a  part,  and  tamely 
submit  to  any  policy  which  an  overwhelming  major- 
ity may  impose  upon  them.  The  time  is  come  not 
only  to  resist  the  measures  which  now  threaten  them, 
but  to  demand  guarantees  for  their  future  protection. 
I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  shall  never  be  stronger  than  we 
are  to-day,  and  we  must  therefore  settle  to-day  the  in- 
terests of  the  great  future  which  is  opening  before  us. 
We  are  strong  enough  now  to  repel  the  aggressions 
which  threaten  us,  and  to  secure  ample  protection  for 
our  future  safety  if  we  have  the  spirit  to  press  our 
demands. 

If  I  required  any  thing  to  remind  me  of  my  duty 
to  the  people  I  represent  in  this  crisis,  it  would  be 
found  in  the  letter  of  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
New  York  (Mr.  Duer),  who  sits  near  me,  lately  ad- 
dressed to  the  editor  of  an  influential  journal  publish- 
ed at  the  capital  of  his  state.  That  letter  discloses 
the  whole  policy  of  the  movement  against  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Southern  States  ;  it  insists  that  the  aim  of 
those  who  seek  to  exclude  slavery  from  Deseret  and 
New  Mexico  may  be  accomplished  with  perfect  cer- 
tainty by  the  admission  of  California  into  the  Union 
at  this  time.  It  advises  delay  as  to  the  Territories, 
but  it  is  merely  delay.  The  honorable  gentleman 
does  not  conceal  his  purpose,  but,  with  a  frankness 

Q 


242  ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA. 

which  is  creditable  to  him,  he  undertakes  to  persuade 
the  impatient  advocates  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  that 
the  true  mode  of  accomplishing  their  object  is  to  wel- 
come California  into  the  Union  now,  with  her  Con- 
stitution excluding  slavery,  and  to  deal  with  the  Ter-% 
ritories  hereafter.  Sir,  nothing  can  be  wiser  than 
this ;  the  conception  is  an  admirable  one ;  the  great 
Frederick,  nor  the  still  greater  Napoleon,  neither  of 
these  successful  commanders  could  have  projected  a 
more  skillful  plan  for  the  campaign.  The  gentleman 
comprehends  that  the  question,  as  an  entire  question, 
is  too  formidable  to  be  disposed  of  at  once.  In  over- 
running the  territories  which  he  would  secure  for 
Northern  dominion,  he  would  take  California  first, 
and  then  throw  his  force  into  the  remaining  portions 
of  the  territory. 

For  one,  sir,  I  am  for  offering  battle  at  once.  I  am 
for  staking  every  thing  upon  a  single  field.  We  shall 
never  be  in  better  condition  for  contesting  it  than  we 
are  now.  And  if  we  are  hereafter  to  struggle  for  a 
foothold  in  Deseret  and  New  Mexico,  I  prefer  to 
struggle  for  ascendency  in  California  too,  that  we 
may  bear  our  institutions  with  us  to  the  Pacific  coast. 

It  is  due,  sir,  to  the  President  to  say,  that,  in  rec- 
ommending the  admittance  of  California,  and  the 
withholding  governments  from  the  remaining  por- 
tions of  the  territory,  he  believed  that  the  tranquillity 
of  the  country  would  be  preserved,  and  that  the  in- 
terests of  the  Southern  States  would  be  secured.  Rec- 
ognizing the  great  popular  right  of  self-government  in 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Territories,  and  believing  that 
the  very  large  increase  of  American  population  in 


ADMISSION   OF   CALIFORNIA.  243 

California  entitled  it  to  admission  as  a  state,  he  rec- 
ommended the  policy  to  which  I  have  adverted ;  but, 
sir,  it  is  apparent  that  the  North  will  adopt  only  one 
part  of  the  President's  policy.  They  will  consent  to 
sustain  his  recommendations  as  to  California,  but 
they  advertise  us,  in  unmistakable  terms,  that  they 
go  with  him  no  farther. 

I  shall  then  insist,  sir,  upon  an  immediate  and 
complete  settlement  of  this  whole  question,  and  I 
earnestly  trust  that  the  people  of  the  whole  Southern 
country  will  insist  on  it ;  that  they  will  hold  the  po- 
sition they  have  taken ;  and  that,  merging  every  oth- 
er question  in  this,  forgetting  all  differences,  they  will 
corne  up  in  this  great  struggle  with  the  compactness 
of  a  Grecian  phalanx  and  the  resistless  tread  of  a 
Roman  legion. 

Before  entering  upon  the  consideration  of  the  prop- 
er mode  of  settling  this  controversy,  I  shall  examine 
the  relations  which  the  North  and  the  South  respect- 
ively hold  to  it.  And  here  I  desire  to  say  that  I  shall 
not  consent  to  argue  this  as  a  moral  question ;  this  is 
no  place  for  such  discussions ;  the  question  is  purely 
a  political  one.  This  government  was  not  establish- 
ed to  regulate  moral  questions,  but  to  protect  political 
rights.  Nor  shall  I  appeal  to  the  benevolent  dispo- 
sition of  gentlemen  to  regard  with  favor  the  exposed 
condition  of  our  population. 

This  government  has  no  power  to  interfere  with 
our  internal  affairs.  We  feel  no  apprehension  as  to 
intestine  commotions.  We  invoke  in  our  behalf  no 
sentiments  but  those  which  ought  to  animate  the 
equal  representatives  of  a  free  and  a  kindred  people. 


244  ADMISSION   OF   CALIFORNIA. 

We  insist  upon  a  great  political  right,  resting  upon 
broad  constitutional  grounds.  That  we  shall  main- 
tain the  right  at  whatever  cost,  I  do  not  doubt. 

The  very  question  which  now  occupies  us  was  be- 
fore the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution. 
It  engaged  the  attention  of  that  great  body  of  wise 
and  patriotic  men.  It  was  debated ;  it  was  referred 
to  committees ;  it  was  the  subject  of  long  and  anx- 
ious sittings.  And  when  it  came  to  be  disposed  of, 
the  extreme  views  of  neither  party  prevailed,  but  a 
perfectly  definite  arrangement  was  entered  into,  and, 
that  it  might  be  perpetuated,  it  was  wrought  into  the 
very  body  of  the  Constitution. 

A  great  mind  of  our  own  times,  the  expiring  gleams 
of  which  were  seen  in  this  hall- — a  mind  whose  sym- 
pathies were  all  with  the  enemies  of  slavery,  admit- 
ted that  the  slaveholding  lords  of  the  South,  as  he 
styled  them,  demanded  and  secured  three  provisions 
for  their  benefit  as  conditions  upon  which  they  as- 
sented to  the  Constitution :  the  apportionment  of  rep- 
resentatives so  as  to  include  slaves  in  the  estimate  of 
population,  the  privilege  of  importing  slaves  for  twen- 
ty years,  and  the  stipulation  to  deliver  up  fugitives 
from  labor. 

It  will  be  observed,  sir,  that  no  power  was  assert- 
ed by  the  Convention  over  slavery ;  they  did  not  un- 
dertake to  control  it ;  on  the  contrary,  the  slavehold- 
ing states  then  asserted,  as  they  now  assert,  that  the 
right  to  hold  slaves  was  independent  of  the  Consti- 
tution. It  is  true,  there  were  provisions  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  enjoyment  of  this  right,  the  guarantee 
to  suppress  insurrection,  and  the  stipulations  to  re- 


ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA.  245 

store  fugitives  from  labor ;  but  the  first  of  these  is  a 
power  never  likely  to  be  invoked,  and  the  second,  al- 
though it  was  adopted  without  a  single  dissenting 
voice,  is  to-day  habitually  disregarded. 

The  power  to  regulate  imposts  was  given  to  Con- 
gress, and,  lest  that  power  should  be  exerted  to  arrest 
the  importation  of  slaves,  it  was  restricted  in  its  ap- 
plication to  that  traffic  until  the  year  1808.  Is  it 
not  clear  that,  but  for  these  provisions  of  the  Con- 
stitution— provisions  inserted  to  secure  an  increase 
of  slaves  to  protect  that  property,  and  to  enable  the 
Southern  States  to  maintain  their  balance  in  the 
confederacy — they  never  would  have  come  into  the 
Union?  Turn  to  the  debates  in  Convention,  and  you 
will  find  spread  upon  their  pages  ample  proof  of  the 
determination  of  these  states  never  to  consent  to  the 
creation  of  a  government  that  did  not  contain  the 
most  explicit  provisions  for  the  protection  of  their 
property,  then  and  thereafter.  The  pages  of  the  Fed- 
eralist afford  the  most  unmistakable  evidence  of  the 
same  fact.  Alexander  Hamilton,  in  advocating  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  before  the  State  Con- 
vention of  New  York,  stated  that  the  provision  enu- 
merating three  fifths  of  the  slaves  as  the  basis  of  rep- 
resentation was  insisted  upon  resolutely  by  the  South- 
ern States,  and  that,  but  for  this  concession,  they 
would  have  refused  to  come  into  the  Union.  In  the 
great  debate  upon  the  admittance  of  Missouri,  one  of 
the  ablest  advocates  of  the  restrictive  measure  which 
the  North  sought  to  impose  upon  that  state  (Mr. 
Sergeant,  of  Pennsylvania)  made  the  important  admis- 
sion that  the  right  of  the  slaveholding  states  to  their 


246  ADMISSION   OF   CALIFORNIA. 

property  is  paramount  to  the  Constitution  itself;  that 
there  is  no  express  grant  in  the  Constitution  for  lim- 
iting slavery  upon  the  admittance  of  new  states ;  and 
that  to  preserve  the  balance  of  the  states  then  and 
thereafter,  the  rule  of  three  fifths  was  adopted. 

Sir,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  balance  be- 
tween the  Southern  States,  which  were  to  continue 
slaveholding  and  planting  states,  and  the  Northern 
States,  was  to  be  preserved.  We  can  not  now  con- 
sent to  abandon  the  ground  which  we  have  held  from 
the  establishment  of  the  government.  Any  policy 
which  proposes  now  to  lessen  the  security  of  our  prop- 
erty— to  shake  the  guarantees  by  which  we  enjoy  it 
— to  disturb  the  weight  which  we  hold  in  the  confed- 
eracy, will  encounter,  on  our  part,  uncompromising 
opposition. 

The  great  question  was  revived  upon  the  applica- 
tion of  Missouri  to  become  a  state  of  the  Union.  The 
territory  out  of  which  that  state  was  formed  had  been 
acquired  from  France  by  the  influence  of  the  South. 
Under  the  Northern  policy,  Louisiana  would  never 
have  been  acquired;  indeed,  under  the  influence  of 
Northern  statesmen,  a  treaty  was  at  one  time  nearly 
concluded,  relinquishing  the  right  to  navigate  the 
southern  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Mr.  Pinckney, 
of  South  Carolina,  with  the  aid  of  other  statesmen 
who  took  the  Southern  view  of  the  question — who 
comprehended  the  importance  of  bringing  that  exten- 
sive region  under  our  dominion,  and  especially  of  se- 
curing the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi— undertook  and 
carried  out  the  great  measure  which  acquired  for  us 
that  magnificent  accession  to  our  wealth  and  our  pow- 


ADMISSION    OF   CALIFORNIA.  247 

er.  Yet,  sir,  when  Missouri  applied  for  admittance 
into  the  Union,,  the  Northern  statesmen  demanded 
that  the  South  should  be  excluded  from  all  partici- 
pation in  the  benefits  of  the  acquisition  which  they 
had  made,  and  they  actually  succeeded  in  subjecting 
the  South  to  a  compromise,  or,  rather,  a  capitulation, 
which  limited  slavery  within  the  parallel  of  thirty- 
six  degrees  and  a  half  north  latitude  in  all  the  terri- 
tory acquired  from  France. 

That  extensive  region  was  at  that  time  a  slave- 
holding  region ;  yet  this  limitation  of  slavery  was  de- 
manded by  the  North,  and  the  line  of  36°  30X  was 
stretched  across  it,  cutting  off  the  South  from  a  large 
share  of  the  acquisition  to  which  she  had  mainly  con- 
tributed; and  independent  states,  since  formed  out 
of  territory  which  was  at  that  time  open  to  slavery, 
have  entered  the  Union  to  throw  their  weight  against 
the  interest  and  the  policy  of  the  slaveholding  states. 
Yes,  sir,  the  North  actually  appropriated  a  large  share 
of  the  territory  which  was  acquired  in  the  face  of  its 
policy ;  and  to-day,  when  another  aggression  is  at- 
tempted against  the  rights  and  the  honor  of  the  South- 
ern States,  when  the  people  of  those  states  threaten 
to  resist  the  aggression,  they  are  told  that  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  shall  be  wrested  from  their  do- 
minion, and  that  its  waters  shall  be  ever  free  to  the 
people  of  the  North.  The  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
— acquired  by  the  genius  and  the  policy  of  Southern 
statesmen — the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  emptying 
its  tribute  in  a  far  southern  latitude — the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  is  to  be  held  by  the  power  of  the 
North,  even  if  these  states  should  form  themselves 


248  ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA. 

into  separate  confederacies.  I  earnestly  trust  that 
the  union  of  these  states  will  never  be  broken  up ; 
that  the  aggressions  which  threaten  to  destroy  it  may 
be  arrested,  and  that  the  mighty  waves  of  the  floods 
which  dash  against  it  may  be  stilled  by  the  hand 
mightier  than  the  waters ;  but  if  a  course  of  contin- 
ual wrong  on  the  part  of  the  North  should  drive  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States  into  resistance ;  if,  un- 
happily, this  government  shall  be  rent  asunder,  you 
may  rest  assured,  sir,  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
will  belong  to  the  South.  • 

Texas  has  been  annexed  to  the  United  States; 
and  one  of  the  conditions  of  its  admittance  was,  that 
in  such  states  as  might  be  formed  out  of  its  territory 
north  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  slavery  should 
be  prohibited.  There  was  a  ready  disposition  to  rec- 
ognize this  compromise  line  when  it  was  to  be  ap- 
plied to  a  slaveholding  territory. 

Such,  sir,  is  the  history  of  the  controversy  which 
grew  up  between  the  North  and  the  South  in  regard 
to  slavery  from  the  establishment  of  the  government 
up  to  the  present  moment.  To-day  we  find  ourselves 
once  more  confronted,  and  the  relative  attitude  of  the 
two  sections  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  their  past  his- 
tory. The  North  is  still  advancing  with  its  aggres- 
sions, more  imperious  than  it  has  ever  been  before, 
and  the  South,  now  thoroughly  aroused  to  a  sense  of 
danger  as  well  as  of  wrong,  demands  only  an  equita- 
ble participation  in  our  recent  acquisition.  In  turn- 
ing to  the  history  of  our  country,  I  look  upon  the 
course  of  the  Southern  States  with  the  highest  satis- 
faction. They  have  stood  by  the  Constitution  in  the 


ADMISSION   OF   CALIFORNIA.  249 

noblest  spirit ;  they  have  borne  the  pressure  of  the 
government ;  they  have  witnessed  the  steady  decline 
of  their  commercial  prosperity ;  they  have  seen  their 
emporiums  languish  and  their  ships  decay ;  yet,  un- 
der all  this  adverse  fortune,  they  have  stood  by  the 
country ;  they  have  asked  no  legislation  for  their  ben- 
efit ;  they  have  poured  their  wealth  into  your  treas- 
ury ;  they  have  seen  it  scattered  without  stint  in  oth- 
er parts  of  the  confederacy ;  yet,  with  a  patriotism 
unchilled  by  time  and  undiminished  by  wrong,  they 
have  stood  by  the  country ;  they  have  sent  their  sons 
to  fight  your  battles,  and  they  have  rejoiced  in  your 
prosperity.  I  may  well  say  this ;  for,  upon  entering 
Congress  in  the  winter  of  1845,  I  found  the  govern- 
ment engaged  in  an  angry  discussion  with  Great  Brit- 
ain respecting  Oregon,  a  remote  northwestern  terri- 
tory, in  which  the  South  could  have  no  possible  in- 
terest beyond  the  common  interest  which  we  all  feel  in 
maintaining  the  rights  and  the  honor  of  the  nation. 
Yet  I  unhesitatingly  expressed  my  determination  to 
assert  the  claim  of  the  United  States,  and  to  main- 
tain it  at  whatever  cost.  Other  Southern  gentlemen 
did  the  same  thing ;  and  it  is  a  fact,  perhaps  not  gen- 
erally known,  that  the  bill  raising  men  and  providing 
supplies  for  the  war  with  Mexico  was  originally  in- 
tended to  prepare  the  country  for  a  contest  with  Great 
Britain. 

What  are  our  relations  to-day?  Having  just 
emerged  from  a  war  with  Mexico,  in  which  the  South 
bore  its  part  well,  to  say  no  more,  and  having  con- 
cluded a  treaty  of  peace  which  leaves  us  in  posses- 
sion of  an  extensive  territory  overrun  by  our  arms — 


250  ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA. 

a  territory  stretching  from  about  the  thirty-second  to 
the  forty-second  parallel  of  north  latitude,  it  is  now 
demanded  by  the  North  that  the  people  of  the  slave- 
holding  states  shall  be  excluded  from  any  share  in 
the  acquisition,  unless  they  consent,  in  migrating 
thither,  to  abandon  an  important  part  of  their  prop- 
erty, and  to  change  their  whole  habit  of  life.  It  is 
insisted  by  the  Northern  States  that  slavery  shall  be 
arrested — that  it  shall  be  extended  no  farther  in  any 
direction — that  it  is  to  be  forever  hedged  within  its 
present  limits.  This  is  your  demand. 

You  are,  sir,  acting  upon  Clarkson's  advice,  who, 
not  content  with  destroying  the  prosperity  of  the 
British  West  Indies,  tendered  his  advice  to  the  abo- 
litionists of  the  United  States.  He  wrote:  "You 
must  either  separate  yourselves  from  all  political  con- 
nection with  the  South,  and  make  your  own  laws,  or, 
if  you  do  not  choose  such  a  separation,  you  must 
break  up  the  political  ascendency  which  the  Southern 
have  for  so  long  a  time  had  over  the  Northern 
States."  You  demand  that  the  equipoise  heretofore 
established  between  the  northern  and  southern  por- 
tions of  the  Union  shall  be  destroyed ;  that  from  this 
time  forth  there  shall  be,  on  the  part  of  the  slave- 
holding  states,  no  participation  in  any  of  the  acqui- 
sitions which  this  republic  may  make. 

The  whole  action  of  the  government  henceforth  is 
to  be  for  your  benefit ;  the  fruits  of  our  diplomacy, 
the  triumphs  of  our  arms,  the  outlay  of  our  wealth, 
the  progress  of  our  power,  all  are  to  be  yours,  and 
we  are  to  hold  an  inferior,  dependent,  abject  relation 
to  you.  Either  you  denounce  us  as  unworthy  to  as- 


ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA.  251 

sociate  with  you  as  equal  states  because  of  the  im- 
morality of  our  institutions,  or  you  seek  to  acquire 
over  us  a  political  advantage.  We  can  submit  nei- 
ther to  the  one  relation  nor  the  other.  If,  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Pharisee,  you  lift  up  your  hands,  and 
thank  God  that  you  are  better  than  we  are ;  if,  turn- 
ing your  backs  upon  a  region  cursed  with  slavery, 
you  survey  with  complacency  your  better  heritage, 
we  may  submit  with  some  composure  to  the  exhibi- 
tion ;  but  if,  overlooking  all  evils  at  home — the  crime, 
the  wretchedness,  the  pauperism  in  your  midst,  you 
enter  upon  an  itinerant  search  after  moral  disorders 
at  a  distance,  compassing  sea  and  land  to  bring  the 
slaveholders  of  the  South  under  the  influence  of  your 
fatal  philanthropy;  if,  not  content  with  hurling  your 
anathemas  against  us,  you  bring  the  power  of  this 
government  to  the  aid  of  your  schemes,  we  shall  take 
measures  to  convince  you  of  our  fixed  purpose  to  re- 
pel aggressions  upon  our  political  rights. 

We,  sir,  have  hitherto  borne  your  assaults,  your 
criticisms,  your  homilies — the  tide  of  vulgar  abuse, 
which  has  for  half  a  century  poured  forth  against  us 
from  declaimers,  newspaper  writers,  and  pamphlet- 
eers ;  we  have  even  submitted  to  bear  the  insulting 
resolutions  of  the  Legislatures  of  co-ordinate  states ; 
we  have  borne  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, when  that  very  agitation  is  as  clear,  though  not 
as  gross,  a  violation  of  our  right  to  hold  slaves  as 
to  have  them  taken  out  of  our  possession;  for  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  there  is  a  mere  difference 
of  degree  between  having  a  right  questioned  and  as- 
saulted and  having  it  wrested  away;  we  have  borne 


252  ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA. 

the  constant  evasion  of  the  constitutional  provis- 
ion to  surrender  fugitives  from  labor — all,  all  this 
we  have  borne;  but  your  demand  now  to  appropri- 
ate the  entire  territory  acquired  from  Mexico  at  the 
close  of  a  national  war  in  which  the  whole  country 
participated,  the  declaration  of  your  fixed  purpose  to 
bind  down  the  slaveholding  states  within  their  pres- 
ent limits,  has  aroused  a  spirit  which  you  will  find  it 
no  easy  task  to  subdue.  Survey,  sir,  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  that  wide-spread  region,  beginning  at  the  Po- 
tomac, which  rolls  its  waters  in  our  view,  to  the  al- 
most tropical  plains  of  Southern  Texas,  and  you  will 
see  signs  which  may  well  fix  your  attention ;  one 
spirit  moves  the  entire  mass  of  awakened  and  indig- 
nant freemen.  You  may  almost  hear  the  tones  in 
which  they  announce  their  solemn  purpose,  not  only 
to  resist  your  threatened  encroachments,  but  to  de- 
mand guarantees  for  their  future  safety. 

If  it  be  your  settled  policy  to  deny  the  slavehold- 
ing states  any  participation  in  the  territory  now  be- 
longing to  us,  or  hereafter  to  belong  to  us,  then  the 
time  is  come  when  the  Southern  States  must  decide 
a  grave  question — either  to  submit  to  a  gradual  but 
perfectly  certain  change  in  their  organic  structure,  or 
to  resist  the  threatened  encroachment  on  their  rights 
at  every  hazard. 

It  is  no  imaginary  wrong  of  which  we  complain ; 
it  is  a  colossal,  overshadowing  evil  against  which  we 
contend.  Our  honor  and  our  existence  are  alike  in- 
volved in  the  issue.  The  cause  which  threatens  to 
disturb  our  peace  and  plunge  us  into  convulsions  may 
seem  to  you  a  slight  one ;  but  let  me  remind  you  that 


ADMISSION   OP    CALIFORNIA.  253 

slight  causes  have  given  rise  to  the  fiercest  and  most 
desolating  wars  which  history  records.  The  plow- 
ing up  a  few  acres  of  sacred  soil  plunged  the  states 
of  Greece  into  a  sanguinary  conflict ;  an  attempt  to 
collect  ship-money  shook  the  empire  of  England, 
drove  Hampden  to  the  field,  where  he  lost  his  life  in 
one  of  the  first  battles  ever  fought  for  constitutional 
liberty,  and  brought  the  anointed  head  of  a  king  to 
the  block;  while  a  tax  of  a  few  cents  on  a  pound  of 
tea  drove  the  British  colonies  into  a  war  which  broke 
the  dominion  of  the  British  government,  and  left 
them  independent  states.  No,  sir,  it  is  no  imaginary 
wrong  of  which  we  complain.  Your  act  which  ex- 
cludes us  from  the  territory  of  the  United  States  de- 
cides a  great  principle  against  us ;  it  involves  the 
very  existence  of  the  Southern  States. 

If  we  submit,  we  have  examples  before  our  eyes  of 
the  condition  to  which  we  shall  be  reduced.  Ireland 
— luxuriant,  fertile,  degraded,  starving  Ireland — is  a 
picture  of  what  we  should  be.  With  her  representa- 
tion in  Parliament,  she  constitutes  nominally  a  por- 
tion of  the  British  empire,  yet  the  policy  of  that 
empire  degrades  and  ruins  her.  What  battle  has 
been  fought  of  late  years  by  British  arms  where  Irish 
blood  has  not  been  freely  spilled,  and  where  Irish  val- 
or has  not  contributed  to  win  the  day?  In  all  the 
bloody  fields  of  the  Peninsula,  between  the  Pyrenees 
and  the  Alps,  they  bore  the  British  ensign  in  triumph 
against  the  marshals  of  France,  and  at  Waterloo 
they  upheld  it  for  Wellington  against  the  magnifi- 
cently stern  array  which  Napoleon  mustered  in  per- 
son. But  what  has  this  done  for  Ireland?  When 


254  ADMISSION    OF   CALIFORNIA. 

her  sons,  unable  longer  to  bear  her  degradation  and 
her  wretchedness,  speak  out  for  their  country  and  de- 
nounce the  power  which  oppresses  and  crushes  her, 
they  are  torn  from  her  bosom,  and  if  they  escape  the 
scaffold,  they  are  sent  into  banishment  manacled  with 
felons.  To-day  every  Southern  man  walks  erect,  with 
conscious  dignity ;  he  surveys  the  whole  country  with 
patriotic  pride ;  he  sits  in  the  council  of  the  nation 
an  equal  among  equals.  He  can  never  consent  to  be 
degraded  from  this  position,  to  have  the  section  from 
which  he  comes  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  to  have  the  people  whom  he  represents 
brought  into  an  inferior  relation  to  it.  A  resistance 
to  the  aggressions  with  which  we  are  threatened  can 
bring  us  no  worse  fate  than  this.  If  we  could  hope 
to  escape  the  physical  deterioration  which  would  cer- 
tainly follow  a  submission  to  the  policy  to  which  it 
is  proposed  to  subject  us,  we  should  sink  into  a  moral 
degradation  far  worse.  The  scholar  who  approaches 
Athens  from  the  sea  forgets  her  orators,  her  poets, 
and  all  the  ruined  glory  of  her  once  unrivaled  archi- 
tecture, and  fixes  his  eye  upon  the  tomb  of  Themisto- 
cles.  In  flinging  a  glance  upon  the  sea  and  the  land, 
every  thing  is  forgotten  but  the  battles  of  freedom 
which  consecrated  every  spot  the  eye  takes  in.  The 
illustrious  people  who  once  dwelt  there,  holding  slaves 
as  we  do,  maintained  their  national  existence  by  pre- 
serving a  spirit  which  resisted  all  attempts  at  inva- 
sion. The  Southern  States  can  maintain  their  posi- 
tion in  the  Union  only  by  cultivating  a  spirit  which 
makes  their  people  stand  ready  to  defend  their  equal 
claim  to  the  benefits  of  the  government  against  every 
assault. 


ADMISSION    OF   CALIFORNIA.  255 

In  settling  this  great  question,  then,  I  shall  insist 
upon  a  recognition  of  our  right  to  a  full  participation 
in  the  late  acquisition  of  territory.  I  do  not  care  to 
measure  exactly  the  extent  of  territory,  and  divide 
acres  with  precision,  but  the  principle  must  be  ad- 
mitted, the  great  principle,  that  in  the  division  of  the 
property  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  enjoyment 
of  political  rights,  the  people  of  the  slaveholding 
states  hold  a  perfect  equality.  As  to  the  Wilmot 
Proviso,  sir,  I  do  not  fear  its  application  to  the  ter- 
ritory; the  truth  is,  you  have  no  right  to  adopt  it, 
and  no  power  to  enforce  it.  But  I  should  be  unjust 
to  the  gentlemen  from  the  non-slaveholding  states  if 
I  did  not  express  my  gratification  at  the  manly  course 
of  those  who,  a  few  days  since,  voted  down  the  reso- 
lution which  instructed  a  committee  of  this  House  to 
report  a  bill  containing  it.  You  profess  to  derive 
your  power  over  the  subject  from  the  Constitution, 
and  many  of  you  rest  it  on  the  second  clause  of  the 
third  section  of  the  fourth  article,  which  declares, 
"That  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of,  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the 
territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States ;"  but  has  it  never  occurred  to  you  that  the 
very  same  clause  proceeds  to  declare,  u  And  nothing 
in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  preju- 
dice any  claims  of  the  United  States  or  of  any  par- 
ticular state?"  If  you  construe  this  restriction  upon 
the  power  of  Congress  so  as  to  make  it  apply  to  the 
interests  of  the  states  in  the  mere  property  of  the 
United  States  or  its  proceeds,  you  must  at  the  same 
tune  admit  that  the  first  part  of  the  clause  grants  no 


256  ADMISSION   OP   CALIFORNIA. 

greater  jurisdiction  than  the  control  of  the  property, 
and  confers  no  political  power.  In  other  words,  if 
you  derive  the  power  of  Congress  to  govern  the  Ter- 
ritories from  the  clause  we  are  now  considering,  you 
must  take  the  latter  part  of  the  clause  as  a  restriction 
upon  the  grant  of  power.  It  is  much  to  be  doubted 
whether  you  have  the  right  to  govern  the  Territories 
of  the  United  States  to  any  greater  extent  than  to 
legislate  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  property. 

By  referring  to  the  debates  in  Convention  upon 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  you  will  find  that  a 
proposition  was  brought  forward  to  give  Congress 
power  to  create  governments  for  the  people  of  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States  ;  before  the  proposi- 
tion came  to  be  acted  on,  it  was  modified,  and  the 
clause  to  which  I  have  referred  is  the  provision  to 
which  the  Convention  agreed. 

Mr.  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina,  in  his  speech 
upon  the  Missouri  question,  to  which  I  have  already 
referred,  says,  Certainly  no  power  to  legislate  against 
the  interest  of  any  state,  even  before  the  Territories 
are  admitted  as  states,  was  conferred  by  the  Conven- 
tion upon  Congress.  Mr.  Pinckney,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, was  a  member  of  the  Convention,  and  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  give  the  opinion  which  I  have 
stated. 

I  shall  frankly  declare,  for  myself,  I  prefer  to  set- 
tle this  question  by  adopting  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise line  in  the  sense  in  which  ,it  was  originally  ap- 
plied to  the  territory  acquired  from  France ;  it  is  a 
marked  line  ;  it  has  the  force  of  precedent ;  a  certain 
moral  power  attaches  to  it,  and  it  is  supposed  to  lim- 


ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA.  257 

it  the  northern  boundary  beyond  which  the  natural 
products  which  employ  slave  labor  profitably  can  not 
pass. 

Let  that  line  be  stretched  to  the  Pacific,  and  let  the 
stormy  debates  and  the  angry  dissensions  which  now 
shake  the  government  sink  into  the  bosom  of  that 
broad  ocean.  This  will  give  the  North  much  the 
larger  share  of  the  territory,  the  whole  acquisition 
being  about  five  hundred  and  twenty-six  thousand 
and  seventy-eight  square  miles.  The  parallel  of  thir- 
ty-six degrees  and  a  half,  if  stretched  across  it,  would 
leave  the  North  in  possession  of  three  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  thousand,  three  hundred  and  fifty-five 
square  miles,  and  would  leave  the  South  one  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  square  miles,  making  an  excess  in  favor  of  the 
North  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square 
miles. 

But  I  do  not  care  for  this.  I  wish  to  settle  the 
question,  and  I  wish  to  settle  it  upon  such  terms  as 
will  relieve  the  Southern  States  from  the  ban  of  the 
government,  and  secure  a  recognition  of  their  rights. 

When  it  was  proposed  last  winter  to  admit  Cali- 
fornia as  a  state,  authorizing  the  inhabitants  then 
there  to  form  a  Constitution  with  that  object,  I  op- 
posed it.  I  stood  ready  to  recognize  the  right  of  the 
people  to  provide  a  government  for  themselves,  but 
I  was  unwilling  to  subject  the  vast  territory  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  inhabitants  then  there.  I  believed 
it  would  result  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  substantial 
rights  of  the  Southern  people.  A  regiment  raised 
in  the  interior  of  New  York,  for  the  express  purpose 

K 


258  ADMISSION    OF   CALIFORNIA. 

of  colonizing  California  had  been  sent  out  by  the  late 
Secretary  of  War,  and  was  disbanded  there.  I  could 
not  doubt  their  decision  in  regard  to  slavery.  I  was 
unwilling,  too,  that  the  new  state  should  embrace 
within  its  limits  the  whole  extent  of  the  Pacific  coast, 
and  I  insisted  upon  a  plan  of  settlement  which  would 
allow  the  people  of  the  slaveholding  states  the  oppor- 
tunity of  colonizing  that  country. 

I  know,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  you,  together  with  the 
present  speaker  of  the  House,  and  several  other  dis- 
tinguished gentlemen  on  both  sides  of  the  chamber, 
did  favor  the  bill  which  was  brought  forward  by  the 
present  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  was  at  that  time 
a  member  of  this  House.  Others  planted  themselves 
upon  the  ground  assumed  by  General  Cass,  who 
thought  it  best  to  leave  the  people  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  rights  of  self-government.  I  know  that 
a  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  numbers  and 
character  of  the  population  now  there ;  but  I  still  in- 
sist, if  California  is  to  come  into  the  Union,  let  the 
state  be  admitted  with  the  Missouri  Compromise  line 
for  its  southern  boundary,  and  let  us  settle  the  whole 
question  upon  that  line,  or  let  us  have  some  other 
equivalent  which  recognizes  the  right  of  a  slavehold- 
ing people  to  divide  the  territory,  and  to  reside  there 
in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property.  As  to  the  fact 
that  the  people  of  ,the  Territory  of  California  have 
thought  proper  to  adopt  a  state  Constitution  in  ad- 
vance of  any  preliminary  action  on  the  part  of  Con- 
gress, I  do  not  regard  that  as  a  very  serious  obstacle. 
An  act  on  our  part  now  admitting  the  state  would 
relate  back  to  the  original  proceeding,  and  would  le- 


ADMISSION    OF   CALIFORNIA.  259 

galize  it.     Such  a  course  on  our  part  would  not  be 
without  late  precedents  in  its  favor. 

As  to  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  in  respect 
to  slavery,  I  suppose  no  one  would  desire  to  make 
that  a  subject  of  debate  here,  and  least  of  all  will  any 
Southern  man  consent  to  let  the  question  of  the  ad- 
mittance of  the  state  turn  upon  that  point.  The 
right  of  the  people  creating  a  state  government  to 
determine  that  question  for  themselves  is  perfectly 
clear,  and,  for  one,  I  shall  never  consent  to  have  it 
questioned. 

And  here,  sir,  allow  me  to  say,  that  I  have  heard 
with  profound  regret  the  remarks  which  have  been 
made  by  some  gentlemen  on  this  floor  in  regard  to 
the  course  which  the  President  has  thought  proper  to 
pursue  toward  the  inhabitants  of  California.  His 
patriotism  needs  no  vindication  here;  it  is  attested 
by  a  long  career  in  the  public  service,  and  it  has  been 
illustrated  upon  hard-fought  fields,  where  the  great 
ensign  of  the  republic  floating  above  him  caught  new 
lustre  from  his  achievements.  Such  assaults  can  not 
harm  him.  They  are  powerless ;  and  it  will  yet  be 
found  that  his  hold  upon  the  confidence  and  affection 
of  his  country  can  not  be  shaken.  He  thought  it 
best  to  encourage  the  people  of  California  to  prepare  a 
state  government,  but  he  did  not  for  a  moment  attempt 
to  interfere  with  the  free  exercise  of  the  rights  of  the 
citizens  in  fixing  the  character  of  that  government. 

In  deciding  the  great  question  which  is  before  us, 
let  party  be  forgotten,  and  let  us  remember  our  coun- 
try. Let  us  settle  this  great  controversy  which  to- 
day threatens  to  overthrow  the  noblest  government 


260  ADMISSION    OF    CALIFORNIA. 

upon  which  the  sun  has  ever  shone.  It  is  full  of 
danger.  Gentlemen  may  not  be  enabled  to  realize  it, 
but  the  controversy  is  full  of  danger.  It  is  stated  in 
a  late  British  magazine  that  the  government  of  that 
powerful  empire  was,  in  April,  1848,  in  great  danger 
of  being  overthrown;  that  if,  out  of  the  six  thousand 
soldiers  who  at  that  time  mustered  in  the  metropolis, 
one  half  of  the  number  had  gone  over  to  the  people, 
the  government  would  have  gone  down. 

The  events  of  an  hour  may  destroy  the  noblest 
fabrics.  The  oak,  through  whose  branches  the  tem- 
pest has  swept  for  a  century,  yields  up  its  strength  to 
a  single  flash  of  the  lightning.  I  desire,  most  ear- 
nestly desire,  to  save  the  Union.  Those  of  us  who 
contend  for  the  rights  of  the  South  must  not  be 
charged  with  treason  against  it.  We  are  the  true 
friends  of  the  Union,  but  we  desire  to  maintain  the 
government  in  its  purity.  We  can  not  submit  to  the 
tranquillity  which  a  despotism  would  impose.  We 
hold  that  political  truth  is  like  revealed  truth :  let  it 
first  be  "pure,  then  peaceable." 

Deal  with  us  justly ;  meet  us  in  the  spirit  which 
animated  the  men  who  sat  side  by  side  in  the  Conven- 
tion which  established  the  Constitution  under  which 
we  live ;  recognize  us  as  a  kindred  people ;  admit  our 
claims  to  a  full  participation  in  the  benefits  of  a  com- 
mon government ;  legislate  for  this  whole  country  as 
your  country  in  all  its  amplitude,  and  you  will  find 
us  ready  to  go  on  with  you  in  the  great  future  which 
opens  before  us,  prepared  to  share  your  fortunes,  for 
good  or  for  evil,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  which  it 
may  bring — "Animis,  opibusque  parati." 


ADMISSION   OF    CALIFORNIA.  261 

'  As  we  now  stand,  confronted  in  angry  controversy, 
I  am  sure  that  I  may  say,  while  the  people  I  repre- 
sent will  contribute  every  thing  to  maintain  the  gov- 
ernment in  its  just  and  equal  action,  they  will  never 
submit  to  acts  of  oppression ;  they  will  give  wealth 
and  life  itself  to  maintain  your  power  and  defend 
your  honor,  but,  as  one  man,  they  will  adopt  the  lan- 
guage of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  of 
South  Carolina,  no  longer  living,  "  Millions  for  de- 
fense, not  a  cent  for  tribute." 


At  the  close  of  his  remarks,  Mr.  Hilliard  gave  notice 
of  his  intention  to  offer  an  amendment  to  the  resolu- 
tion, proposing  to  refer  that  portion  of  the  message 
relating  to  the  Territories,  so  as  to  instruct  the  Com- 
mittee on  Territories  to  report  a  bill  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  their  prop- 
erty, of  whatever  description,  in  the  territories  ac- 
quired from  Mexico  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hi- 
dalgo. 


EXPLANATION— PERSONAL  AND  PO- 
LITICAL. 

A  SPEECH   DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES    OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  MARCH  7th,  1850. 

Mr.  Hilliard  rose  and  said  : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN, — The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
with  which  I  have  been  connected  since  I  attained 
manhood,  devolves  on  certain  of  its  members,  engaged 
in  the  various  pursuits  of  life,  the  duty  of  enforcing 
occasionally  in  public  the  religious  truths  held  by 
that  body  of  Christians.  This  duty  has  been  de- 
volved on  me  by  that  Church.  I  am  not  insensible 
to  the  criticism  to  which  it  subjects  me ;  but  such  are 
my  convictions  in  regard  to  the  duty,  that  I  have  no 
purpose  of  relinquishing  it  while  I  live.  A  sense  of 
this  religious  obligation  has  restrained  me  on  all  oc- 
casions, in  my  intercourse  with  society,  from  any  de- 
parture from  the  most  perfect  courtesy.  Since  my 
connection  with  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  I 
have  habitually  forborne  to  trespass  on  the  rights,  or 
even  the  feelings,  of  any  of  its  members.  If  on  any 
occasion  I  had  done  so  from  inadvertence,  I  should, 
when  reminded  of  it,  have  promptly  repaired  the 
wrong.  My  self-respect,  as  well  as  a  sense  of  justice, 
dictated  this  course ;  and  that  I  have  uniformly  ad- 
hered to  it,  is  well  known  to  gentlemen  with  whom  I 
have  had  the  honor  to  serve  on  this  floor  for  years 
past.  I  may  safely  appeal  to  gentlemen  on  both 


EXPLANATION PERSONAL    AND    POLITICAL.         263 

sides  of  the  chamber  to  sustain  me  in  this  state- 
ment. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  at  all  times  supposed 
that  no  gentleman  would  allow  himself  to  allude  in 
any  offensive  sense  to  my  religious  profession.  There 
exists  a  strong  disposition  in  vulgar  minds  to  do  this, 
but  I  believe  that  no  one  has  so  far  violated  the  rules 
of  decorum  as  to  do  so,  with  two  exceptions. 

A  member  from  Pennsylvania,  who  addressed  the 
committee  some  days  since,  felt  himself  at  liberty  to 
urge  me  to  call  on  my  illustrious  friend,  as  he  styled 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  announce  to 
him,  in  inspired  language,  his  impending  doom.  He 
selected  the  very  language  which  I  was  to  utter  in 
the  ear  of  the  President,  u  Accursed  is  the  man-steal- 
er;"  and  I  was  to  add  to  this  a  solemn  entreaty  to 
him  to  abandon  his  slave  property,  if  he  desired  to 
escape  the  divine  wrath.  I  shall  not  offer  a  single 
remark  in  regard  to  the  offensiveness  of  this  language, 
in  its  application  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  na- 
tion, or  to  myself  as  a  member  of  this  House,  but 
shall  leave  it  to  that  prompt  condemnation  which  it 
will  meet  from  every  man  who  has  any  just  sense  of 
propriety. 

The  other  exception  to  which  I  refer  is  the  mem- 
ber from  North  Carolina,  who  spoke  yesterday.  That 
member  thought  proper  to  charge  me,  without  a  sin- 
gle provocation  on  my  part,  with  "desecrating  the 
Scriptures,  by  quotations  from  them  urging  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  to  shed  each  other's  blood ;" 
and  he  proceeded  farther  to  charge  me  with  a  design 
to  break  up  this  Union.  These  charges  were  gratu- 


264        EXPLANATION — PERSONAL   AND   POLITICAL. 

itously  made.  It  was  not  my  purpose  to  interfere 
with  the  member  in  the  course  of  his  speech.  His 
very  gross  allusion  to  me  drew  from  me  an  unpre- 
meditated and  indignant  denial.  Gross  as  the  assault 
upon  me  was — none  could  be  more  so — I  should  have 
replied  to  it  in  less  offensive  language.  A  moment's 
reflection  would  have  enabled  me  to  do  so,  but  my 
indignation  was,  for  the  moment,  irrepressible.  I 
pronounced  it ' '  false, "  as  it  most  certainly  was.  Still, 
sir,  however  little  respect  was  due  to  the  member  who 
could  bring  against  me  such  an  atrocious  charge,  I 
ought  to  have  checked  an  indignation  which,  how- 
ever natural  it  is  to  feel  under  such  an  outrage,  im- 
pelled me  to  make  a  harsher  reply  than  I  could  have 
desired  to  make  in  a  cooler  moment.  But,  sir,  it 
was  an  impulse  which  every  generous  man  will  at 
once  understand  and  excuse. 

In  looking  around  this  arena,  Mr.  Chairman,  the 
member  had  a  perfect  right  to  select  his  adversary ; 
but,  however  much  the  world  may  applaud  the  dis- 
cretion with  which  the  member  exercised  his  right  in 
singling  me  out,  it  will  not  be  likely  to  award  him  an 
ovation  for  any  success  which  he  may  win  in  the  con- 
test. He  thought  it  proper — perhaps  I  should  say 
prudent — to  pass  by  all  others,  and  to  throw  his 
gauntlet  immediately  at  my  feet  as  he  entered  the 
gladiatorial  ring,  at  the  moment  in  which  he  referred 
to  me  in  a  manner  which  almost  every  other  member 
of  the  House  but  himself  would  have  felt  should 
shield  me  from  assault.  I  repeat,  sir,  the  world  may 
applaud  the  member's  discretion,  whatever  it  may  say 
of  his  manliness. 


EXPLANATION — PERSONAL   AND   POLITICAL.         265 

Now,  sir,  I  deny  that  I  have  on  any  occasion  em- 
ployed the  Scriptures  for  the  purpose  which  the  mem- 
ber charges  on  me.  Indeed,  I  have  never  drawn  upon 
them,  as  I  remember,  for  any  purpose  whatever  in 
the  debates  of  this  House.  I  have  never  sought  to 
vindicate  slavery  by  a  single  quotation  from  them. 
In  my  late  speech,  I  expressly  declined  to  argue  the 
question  affecting  the  rights  of  the  people  represent- 
ed by  me,  in  respect  to  slavery,  on  moral  grounds, 
because  the  argument  would  admit  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  forum ;  and  I  urged  none  but  political  consider- 
ations in  support  of  those  rights. 

Much  less,  sir,  have  I  at  any  time  sought  to  bring 
the  authority  of  the  sacred  volume  to  the  support  of 
violent  measures.  I  distinctly  and  emphatically  re- 
pel the  charge.  Let  my  speech  be  examined,  and  it 
will  be  found  that  the-  charge  of  the  member  from 
North  Carolina  is  without  even  the  coloring  of  truth. 
It  was,  I  am  confident,  hastily  uttered.  It  proceeded 
from  the  unbalanced  character  of  that  member's  mind, 
and  his  malignant  disposition  toward  Southern  mem- 
bers, who  might  be  supposed  ready  to  condemn  his 
extraordinary  course  at  this  critical  conjuncture.  If 
I  had  thought  proper  to  search  the  Scriptures  for 
guidance  at  this  time,  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  should 
have  found  nothing  in  them  to  encourage  an  aban- 
donment of  duty  by  one  who  is  intrusted  by  his  con- 
stituents with  the  high  functions  of  a  representative, 
nor  to  favor  a  treasonable  surrender,  on  his  part,  of 
the  rights  which  he  was  chosen  to  uphold  and  defend. 
I  am  here  as  the  representative  of  others.  Their 
rights  are  committed  to  my  keeping.  Whatever  I 


266         EXPLANATION PERSONAL    AND    POLITICAL. 

may  encounter,  I  shall  vigorously  and  faithfully  con- 
tend for  those  rights.  I  find  nothing  in  human  or  di- 
vine teachings  to  encourage  me  to  do  otherwise.  On 
the  contrary,  if  I  could  shrink  from  their  mainte- 
nance because  of  any  apprehension  of  encountering 
opposition  from  the  open  enemies  or  false  friends  of 
those  rights,  I  should  incur  the  censure  of  the  whole 
Christian  and  political  world.  In  my  late  speech  I 
made  a  single  brief  quotation  from  the  Scriptures, 
the  object  of  which  could  not  be  tortured  to  mean 
what  the  member  has  charged,  but  asserted  what  ev- 
ery one  must  admit  to  be  true,  that  in  a  constitutional 
government,  political  truth,  like  revealed  truth,  must 
be  open  to  the  freest  discussion — a  right  denied  only 
by  a  despotic  government,  which  enforces  tranquillity 
by  the  crushing  might  of  power,  and  formidable  only 
to  tyrants  and  to  traitors. 

The  other  charge  brought  by  the  member,  in  his 
heedless  manner,  as  to  my  disposition  to  break  up 
the  Union,  is  also  without  any  foundation  in  fact. 
It  is  an  error  into  which  he  has  fallen  from  the  pres- 
ent temper  of  his  mind,  which  inclines  him  to  sus- 
pect every  Southern  man,  who  says  a  word  in  behalf 
of  his  section,  of  hostility  to  the  Union.  All  such 
members  he  undertakes  to  arraign  and  censure. 

I  challenge  him  or  any  other  member  of  this  House 
to  produce  a  single  remark  of  mine  which  favors  the 
scheme  of  disunion.  No  man  living  is  more  pro- 
foundly devoted  to  the  Union  than  I  am.  We  owe 
to  it  our  prosperity,  our  power,  and  our  glory.  Its 
destruction  would  involve  our  own  country  in  irre- 
trievable ruin,  and  it  would  spread  dismay  through 


EXPLANATION — PEESONAL    AND    POLITICAL.         267 

the  ran»ks  of  the  friends  of  liberty  in  every  part  of 
the  world. 

So  far  from  looking  to  its  disruption  as  a  remedy 
for  political  evils,  I  would  put  my  life  in  peril,  at  any 
hour,  to  save  it.  To  my  vision  it  seems  to  be  invest- 
ed with  dangers.  I  have  pointed  them  out.  I  have 
appealed  earnestly  to  the  patriotism  of  this  body  to 
save  the  Union  by  a  wise,  just,  and  noble  use  of 
power.  This  would  avert  impending  troubles,  while 
it  would  insure  for  the  whole  country  a  glorious  fu- 
ture. It  would  strengthen  the  Union.  I  claim  to 
be  as  true  a  friend  to  the  Union  as  the  member  from 
North  Carolina.  We  differ  in  this :  I  stand  with  my 
people ;  he  takes  occasion,  at  this  conjuncture,  when 
his  section  is  threatened  by  the  overwhelming  power 
of  a  majority,  to  approach  the  feet  of  power,  and  to 
give  it  whatever  aid  his  abilities  or  his  position  may 
enable  him  to  furnish.  He  spoke  of  the  wrongs 
which  his  section  has  endured  in  terms  which  were 
listened  to  with  satisfaction  only  by  those  who  op- 
pose the  very  rights  which  he  was  sent  here  to  uphold 
and  vindicate.  His  course  of  remark  could  hardly 
fail  to  fill  Southern  men  with  indignation,  and  even 
Northern  men  with  contempt.  He  goes  over  the 
whole  field  of  controversy,  and  can  not  find  a  single 
grievance  of  which  the  South  has  a  right  to  complain 
— not  even  the  disregard  of  the  constitutional  provis- 
ion to  surrender  fugitives  from  labor,  which  Northern 
gentlemen  themselves  admit  to  be  a  wrong.  He  be- 
comes, indeed,  the  champion  of  the  majority;  invites 
them  to  press  their  measures,  and  threatens  his  own 
people,  if  they  resist,  with  the  military  power  of  the 
government. 


268         EXPLANATION PERSONAL    AND    POLITICAL. 

However  ready  I  may  be,  on  all  proper  occasions, 
to  do  homage  to  the  high  qualities  of  the  North,  I 
can  not,  at  a  moment  like  this,  when  the  whole 
strength  of  that  powerful  section  of  the  Union  is  ar- 
rayed against  the  South,  hesitate  to  take  part  with 
the  people  among  whom  Providence  has  cast  my  lot, 
in  the  great  struggle  through  which  they  are  now 
passing.  Nor  can  I  comprehend  how  any  Southern 
man,  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his  country,  fa- 
miliar with  the  wrongs  to  which  the  South  has  been 
subjected  in  regard  to  the  question  now  before  Con- 
gress, can  for  a  moment  forget  or  forsake  the  cause 
of  that  generous  and  gallant  people.  The  nobler  sym- 
pathies of  our  nature,  in  the  absence  of  all  the  obli- 
gations of  patriotism,  should  impel  us  to  range  our- 
selves on  the  side  of  the  feeble  against  the  strong. 
The  course  of  the  member  from  North  Carolina  seems 
to  me  to  outrage  both ;  it  does  violence  alike  to  the 
nobler  impulses  of  our  nature  and  to  the  dictates  of 
patriotism ;  and,  whether  it  is  considered  in  regard 
to  me  or  to  his  country,  it  is  not  likely  to  be  com- 
mended for  its  elevation,  its  generosity,  or  its  manli- 
ness. 

A  gentleman  from  New  York,  who  sits  before  me, 
I  observe,  intimates  that  he  approves  the  course  of 
the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  in  coming  to  the 
aid  of  the  North  at  this  conjuncture,  and  says  that  the 
gentleman  from  North  Carolina  sees  things  through 
the  same  medium  that  he  does.  That  is  more  than  I 
have  charged ;  for  the  gentleman  from  New  York  has, 
on  every  occasion  when  a  question  came  up  affecting 
the  rights  of  the  South,  voted  against  the  South.  He 


EXPLANATION PERSONAL    AND    POLITICAL.         269 

has,  on  every  occasion,  from  first  to  last,  voted  for 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  and  sustained  Gott's  resolution 
as  to  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

These  gentlemen,  sir — the  one  coming  from  New 
York,  and  the  other  from  North  Carolina — sent  here 
by  constituencies  so  widely  differing  upon  this  ques- 
tion, see  things  through  the  same  medium ! 

I  thank  the  gentleman  from  New  York  for  the 
timely  remark.  He  admits  the  extraordinary  posi- 
tion of  the  member  from  North  Carolina,  and  he  ac- 
counts for  it  by  saying  that  they  "  see  things  through 
the  same  medium."  Such  are  the  commendations 
which  a  Southern  representative  receives  when  he 
lends  himself  to  carry  out  the  objects  of  Northern 
power. 

Sir,  when  at  home,  I  did  what  I  could  to  allay  sec- 
tional feeling.  I  spoke  for  the  Union.  I  pointed  to 
its  glorious  ensign,  floating  in  conscious  pride  over 
this  broad  continent,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
and  borne  by  our  adventurous  seamen  into  all  the 
waters  of  the  globe.  I  urged  the  people  who  sur- 
rounded me,  and  to  whom  the  wildest  appeals  were 
addressed  by  those  who  undertook  to  ride  me  down, 
to  cherish  a  patriotic  regard  for  the  whole  country ; 
and  I  assured  them  that  no  act  of  aggression  on  their 
rights  would  be  made  by  Congress,  and  that,  if  it  were 
attempted,  the  act  would  be  arrested  by  the  President 
of  their  choice.  But,  sir,  standing  here,  in  the  midst 
of  the  representatives  of  other  states,  I  have  felt  it 
to  be  my  duty  to  resist  every  measure  which  would 
be  regarded  by  the  people  for  whom  I  speak  as  an  en- 
croachment on  their  rights  or  their  honor,  and  to  urge 


270         EXPLANATION PERSONAL    AND    POLITICAL. 

upon  this  great  body,  representing  the  whole  country, 
the  views  which  they  entertain  of  a  question  which  so 
deeply  affects  them.  To  have  done  otherwise  would, 
in  my  judgment,  have  been  a  gross  abandonment  of 
duty — duty  to  my  immediate  constituents  and  to  my 
whole  country.  While  I  have  thus  aimed  to  do  my 
duty  here  faithfully  and  efficiently,  I  have,  in  my  cor- 
respondence with  those  I  represent,  contributed  what 
I  could  to  encourage  a  sound  sentiment  at  home — to 
repress  rather  than  to  excite  dissatisfaction.  I  have 
stated  my  hope  in  the  just  action  of  Congress,  and 
my  confidence  in  the  President.  I  have  discouraged 
all  movements  toward  effecting  a  sectional  organiza- 
tion, believing  that  an  occasion  would  not  arise  call- 
ing for  any  other  means  of  redress  than  those  which 
the  forms  of  the  government  afford.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  session,  when  it  was  impossible  to  foresee 
what  would  be  done,  I  joined  my  colleagues  in  ad- 
dressing a  letter  to  the  governor,  in  the  hope  that  the 
real  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Alabama  would  be  ut- 
tered in  firm  and  moderate  resolutions  on  the  part  of 
the  Legislature,  and  that  the  executive  of  the  state 
would  be  empowered,  in  the  event  of  a  serious  ag- 
gression being  made  by  the  government  upon  their 
rights,  to  bring  the  subject  before  the  people  them- 
selves, to  decide  upon  it  as  they  alone  have  the  right 
to  do. 

Such,  sir,  has  been  my  course,  adopted  under  a 
high  sense  of  duty.  My  aim  has  been  to  maintain 
the  rights  of  the  people  represented  by  me,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  to  avert  from  the  Union  every  cause 
of  trouble — so  little  do  I  deserve  to  be  classed  with 


EXPLANATION — PERSONAL   AND   POLITICAL.         271 

those  who  desire  to  break  up  the  Union.  God  grant 
that  it  may  outride  every  storm ! 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  to  those  who  represent  a 
feeble  section  it  must  sometimes  appear  to  be  imprac- 
ticable. Their  constituents  depend  for  their  security 
upon  a  strict  observance  of  the  organic  law.  This 
they  must  insist  upon.  It  may  put  them  in  conflict 
with  a  majority — their  firmness  may  even  threaten 
shocks  to  the  system — but  they  must  hold  their  posi- 
tion ;  for  when  they  abandon  it,  they  surrender  the 
rights  which  they  were  appointed  to  guard  to  the 
unchecked  dominion  of  power.  This  government, 
without  the  Constitution,  would  be  an  absolute  des- 
potism. 

Those  of  us  who  have  contended  for  the  rights  of 
the  Southern  people,  and  have  demanded  for  them 
the  protection  of  the  government,  may  be  denounced 
for  a  time ;  traitors  may  assail  us ;  the  surges  will 
dash  against  us ;  but  when  the  storm  is  gone  by,  and 
the  great  question  now  before  us  is  settled,  reason  and 
truth  will  reassert  their  dominion,  and  will  vindicate 
us  against  the  charge  of  faction.  It  will  then  be  seen 
how  much  we  have  contributed  to  restore  the  action 
of  the  government  to  its  true  course,  and  that  de- 
termined resistance  to  aggression  is  the  only  effectual 
mode  of  maintaining  conservative  principles. 

In  our  contests  here,  sir,  this  must  be  borne  in 
mind.  In  the  language  of  Edmund  Burke,  "some- 
thing must  be  allowed  to  the  spirit  of  liberty."  I 
shall  do  my  duty;  no  considerations  shall  deter  me 
from  it — -no  reproaches  can  discourage — no  threats 
can  intimidate  me.  Harmony  can  only  be  maintained 


272        EXPLANATION PERSONAL   AND    POLITICAL. 

throughout  this  wide-spread  republic  by  a  wise,  patri- 
otic, and  noble  use  of  power.  The  people  in  every 
part  of  it  must  feel  that  their  rights  are  protected. 
To  wield  the  power  of  the  government  either  to  en- 
rich one  section  at  the  expense  of  another,  or  to  de- 
stroy the  securities  which  protect  the  property  of 
every  portion  of  the  people,  must  give  rise  to  dissat- 
isfaction, and  if  the  wrong  be  heavy  enough,  it  will 
occasion  angry  and  even  fatal  convulsions.  The  right 
of  revolution  resides  in  every  people  under  heaven ; 
and  there  are  wrongs  which  will  drive  them  to  the 
exercise  of  it,  unless  they  are  already  fit  to  be  made 
slaves.  No  people  who  comprehend  and  love  liberty 
will  bear  too  heavy  a  pressure  from  power.  He  who 
stands  ready,  as  the  representative  of  a  free  people,  to 
surrender  their  rights  to  the  demands  of  power,  and 
to  proclaim  that  no  wrongs  can  drive  them  into  resist- 
ance to  their  government,  is  already  dead  to  the  noble 
impulses  which  can  alone  preserve  liberty. 

If,  sir,  this  Union  could  be  maintained  by  force — 
if  it  could  exist  after  the  whole  power  of  the  govern- 
ment came  to  be  employed  against  the  property  of 
the  people  of  one  half  of  the  states,  what  generous  or 
right-minded  man,  come  from  what  section  he  may, 
would  not  prefer  to  maintain  it  by  a  just  exercise  of 
the  political  functions  which  he  holds — by  a  magnan- 
imous forbearance  in  the  use  of  strength,  than  by 
military  power  ? 

Sir,  this  Union  can  be  perpetuated — not  by  force — 
not  by  bayonets,  but  by  cherishing  the  spirit  which 
gave  it  its  existence,  and  by  a  rigid  adherence  to  the 
Constitution.  I  take  this  occasion  to  say  that  I  ask 


EXPLANATION — PERSONAL   AND   POLITICAL.         273 

for  no  amendment  to  the  Constitution;  let  it  stand; 
let  it  be  observed  in  letter  and  in  spirit.  May  it  be 
perpetual!  I  do  not  desire  to  throw  any  additional 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  speedy  settlement  of  the 
great  question  now  pending.  I  earnestly  desire  to 
see  it  disposed  of  in  a  spirit  which  will  inspire  fresh 
confidence  in  the  government,  and  give  new  strength 
to  the  Union. 

The  member  from  North  Carolina,  in  his  extraor- 
dinary speech  yesterday,  did  not  content  himself  with 
inviting  us  to  accompany  him  to  the  tomb  of  Wash- 
ington, whither  we  should  all  have  gone  as  willing 
pilgrims,  but  he  alluded  to  Jackson  in  such  terms  as 
to  revive  party  animosities  which  have  hardly  yet 
had  time  to  die  out,  and  which,  at  this  moment  espe- 
cially, ought  not  to  be  revived.  He  spoke  of  his  ex- 
ertions for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  of  the 
menaces  which,  at  a  certain  period  of  our  country's 
history,  he  had  uttered.  He  then  passed  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  hoped  that  the 
same  special  Providence  which  had  preserved  the 
lives  of  the  two  illustrious  men  already  alluded  to, 
would  keep  him,  and  that  he  too  might  be  able,  in 
spite  of  all  resistance,  to  save  the  Union.  How 
would  that  gentleman  wish  him  to  preserve  it?  By 
military  power?  By  the  exercise  of  his  great  abili- 
ties as  a  military  leader  ?  Sir,  I  greatly  misconceive 
the  character  of  the  President  if  he  would  not  infi- 
nitely prefer  to  serve  his  country  and  to  save  the  Un- 
ion by  employing  pacific  measures  than  by  an  appeal 
to  arms.  My  confidence  in  the  President  is  unlim- 
ited. Recognizing  in  him  great  qualities,  which  fitted 

S 


274        EXPLANATION — PERSONAL   AND   POLITICAL. 

him,  as  I  believed,  for  a  faithful  and  efficient  per- 
formance of  executive  trusts,  I  contributed  what  I 
could  to  secure  his  nomination  at  Philadelphia.  I 
had  the  impression  that  the  member  from  North 
Carolina  was  opposed  to  it.  He  now  informs  me 
that  he  was  not,  but  aided  to  bring  it  about.  I  with 
pleasure  accept  his  statement  of  the  fact,  and  thank 
him — at  least  for  that. 

He  says,  however,  that  he  was  not  in  a  Methodist 
church  in  that  city.  If  he  had  sometimes  visited 
such  places,  his  morals  and  his  manners  would  prob- 
ably both  be  better  than  they  are  to-day.  The  re- 
mark only  discloses  the  incurable  proneness  of  the 
member  to  a  line  of  conduct  which  must  prove  far 
more  injurious  to  him  than  it  can  possibly  be  to 
others. 

As  my  position  puts  it  out  of  my  power  to  appeal 
to  the  only  considerations  which  seem  to  be  poten- 
tial in  holding  him  to  the  observance  of  a  decent  de- 
meanor, I  must,  of  course,  expect  to  hear  from  him 
the  rudest  remarks  which  his  nature  can  suggest. 
No  one  will  be  at  a  loss  to  account  for  such  a  display 
of  his  spirit. 

I  was  observing,  sir,  that  my  confidence  in  the 
President,  so  far  from  being  diminished  by  a  personal 
knowledge  of  him,  has  gained  strength.  I,  too,  look 
to  him  in  this  great  crisis.  The  laurels  which  encir- 
cle his  brow  have  been  nobly  earned;  he  does  not 
desire  to  have  them  crimsoned  with  fraternal  blood. 
History  has  already  claimed  his  military  achieve- 
ments for  the  brightest  pages  in  which  she  records 
great  exploits.  I  earnestly  hope  that  the  influence 


EXPLANATION PERSONAL    AND    POLITICAL.         275 

of  his  high,  station  and  his  great  character  will, 
through  all  his  future  days,  be  thrown  on  the  side  of 
peace ;  that  the  evening  of  his  life  may  be  crowned 
with  even  more  glorious  trophies  than  war  has  yield- 
ed him ;  that  his  administration  will  be  illustrated 
by  an  unswerving  adherence  to  the  Constitution — by 
a  firm  protection  of  the  rights  of  the  weak,  whenso- 
ever they  are  threatened  by  the  power  of  the  strong; 
and  that  his  country  will  hereafter  rank  him  with 
her  benefactors,  less  on  account  of  the  victories  which 
he  has  won  in  the  field,  than  for  the  triumphs  which 
yet  await  him  in  a  wise,  just,  and  noble  performance 
of  the  duties  of  the  great  office  to  which  he  has  been 
called  by  the  American  people. 


DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  TAYLOR. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES   OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  JULY  10th,  1850. 

Mr.  Hilliard  rose  and  said, 

MR.  SPEAKER, — At  the  suggestion  of  those  in 
whose  judgment  I  have  confidence,  I  rise  to  offer  a 
humble  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  great  man  who 
has  just  fallen  in  our  midst.  If  he  were  living,  I 
should  leave  others  to  eulogize  him ;  as  he  is  dead,  I 
choose  to  speak  of  him.  And  yet  I  am  so  over- 
whelmed by  the  event  which  has  just  occurred,  that 
I  can  scarcely  find  language  to  express  what  I  feel. 
Some  events  are  so  impressive  that  they  leave  little 
occasion  for  words — they  are  too  great  to  be  enlarged 
on.  I  am  almost  ready  to  follow  the  example  of  a 
great  French  orator,  who,  when  called  on  to  pro- 
nounce a  funeral  oration  upon  a  deceased  monarch, 
laid  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  dead  king,  and 
exclaimed,  " There  is  nothing  great  but  God."  Sir, 
there  is  nothing  great  but  God.* 

General  Taylor's  whole  career  illustrated  the  high 
qualities  which  so  eminently  distinguished  him.  I 
do  not  dwell  upon  his  battle-fields — they  belong  to 
history,  and  they  will  find  a  place  upon  the  brightest 
pages  which  record  such  exploits.  Nor  shall  I  speak 
of  his  courage — it  is  unnecessary;  that  is  attested  by 
hard-fought  fields,  and  brilliant  victories  won  under 
his  eye  against  overwhelming  numbers.  But  I  wish 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   TAYLOR.  277 

to  speak  of  that  high  sense  of  duty  which  character- 
ized his  whole  life — that  steady  purpose  to  do  what 
he  believed  to  be  right,  at  all  times  and  in  all  places. 
In  the  performance  of  duty,  nothing  could  move  him ; 
he  marched  directly  upon  the  road  where  that  called 
him.  The  reference  to  this  trait  in  his  character  has 
been  appropriately  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Illi- 
nois (Mr.  Baker),  and  it  deserves  to  be  observed  and 
dwelt  upon.  To  him,  as  fully  as  to  any  one  I  have 
ever  known,  may  be  applied  the  high  eulogium  of 
"  incorrupta  fides" — he  kept  his  faith  with  all  men. 
You  might  dissent  from  his  opinions,  you  might 
find  fault  with  his  judgment,  but,  when  he  took  his 
position,  he  kept  it;  his  sense  of  duty  sustained  him, 
and  opposition  only  served  to  make  him  the  more 
steadfast  in  holding  it. 

It  is  said  of  Napoleon  that  the  great  quality  which 
distinguished  him,  next  to  his  genius,  was  his  love 
of  glory;  so  that  when  he  marched  his  army  into 
Egypt,  the  appeal  which  he  made  to  them  on  the  eve 
of  battle  was,  "Soldiers,  forty  centuries  look  down 
upon  you  from  these  pyramids." 

General  Taylor  rather  resembled  Lord  Nelson,  who, 
when  about  to  engage  the  enemy's  fleet,  sent  to  his 
several  officers  in  command  of  his  ships  the  words, 
"England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty." 

This  was  the  constant  aim  of  the  illustrious  man 
who  has  just  been  called  away  from  us.  This  great 
quality,  which  sheds  such  lustre  .upon  his  name,  gave 
him  that  success  which  so  uniformly  attended  him. 
When  about  to  engage  in  battle  at  Buena  Vista  with 
the  overwhelming  army  opposed  to  him,  he  compre- 


278  DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   TAYLOR. 

hended  the  danger  which  invested  him,  but  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  his  duty  to  stand  there, 
and,  in  his  own  beautiful  language,  written  before 
the  engagement,  "  he  looked  to  Providence  for  a  good 
result." 

General  Taylor's  character  was  American — dis- 
tinctly and  decidedly  American.  He  was  invited  to 
quit  the  army  and  take  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
republic.  He  did  so  with  unaffected  reluctance,  from 
a  sincere  distrust  of  his  fitness  for  such  a  station. 
But  as  in  the  army  he  had  obeyed  every  order  of  his 
government,  he  now  obeyed  the  call  of  his  country- 
men, and,  laying  aside  his  plumed  hat,  his  epaulets, 
and  his  sword,  he  entered  upon  the  functions  of  his 
new  and  great  position  with  an  honest  purpose  to  do 
his  duty. 

Unlike  Csesar,  who  repelled  the  proffered  crown 
while  he  coveted  it,  he  came  with  diffidence  to  the 
high  position  to  which  he  had  been  called,  and  un- 
ostentatiously employed  himself  with  its  appropriate 
duties,  his  whole  course  evincing  his  profound  sense 
of  the  value  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  his  man- 
ners illustrating  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  his  char- 
acter. 

Sir,  this  illustrious  man  is  called  away  from  us  at 
a  moment  most  critical.  Never  have  I  known  the 
republic  in  such  peril  as  now  surrounds  it.  My 
friend  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Winthrop)  has  well 
said  that  it  is  so  clearly  an  interposition  of  Providence, 
that  he  is  ready  to  exclaim,  "The  chariots  of  Israel 
and  the  horsemen  thereof/' 

Sir,  I  agree  to  this.     It  is  an  interposition  of  Prov- 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  TAYLOR.  279 

idence,  and 'it  comes  to  us  in  a  trying  hour.  But  I 
am  not  dismayed.  My  trust  in  Providence  is  un- 
shaken. Our  country  has  been  delivered,  guided, 
made  glorious  by  a  good  Providence.  It  will  be  so 
still.  I  remember,  when  the  prophet  referred  to  by 
the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Winthrop) 
was  surrounded  by  a  hostile  force,  and  all  hope  of 
escape  seemed  cut  off,  that  a  young  man  who  was 
with  him  cried  out  in  great  fear,  and  the  reply  of  the 
prophet  was  a  prayer  that  the  young  man's  eyes 
might  be  opened.  He  then  saw  that  all  within  the 
hostile  lines  were  "chariots  and  horsemen  of  fire," 
ready  to  succor  and  to  deliver  the  beleaguered  city. 
So  will  it  be  with  us.  The  dangers  which  threaten 
us  will  be  averted,  and,  I  trust,  forever  disposed  of. 

The  solemn  event  which  has  just  occurred  will  ar- 
rest the  angry  current  which  has  swept  us  on  so 
fiercely.  It  imposes  a  truce,  at  least  for  a  season, 
upon  contending  parties.  In  the  mean  while,  a  bet- 
ter feeling  may  spring  up,  and  we  may  ask,  uWhy 
do  we  struggle  with  each  other  ?  Are  we  not  breth- 
ren?" The  nation  will  be  impressed  with  the  be- 
reavement which  it  has  suffered,  and  the  tide  of  sor- 
row which  sweeps  throughout  the  country  will  ad- 
monish us  to  agree  in  wise,  patriotic,  and  fraternal 
counsels.  The  very  event  which  we  deplore,  and 
which  we  regard  as  a  calamity,  will  be  overruled  for 
good ;  and  He  that  sitteth  on  high,  mightier  than  the 
water-floods,  will  put  forth  his  power  and  cause  a 
great  calm. 

Sir,  death  is  at  all  times  a  solemn  event ;  it  touches 
both  time  and  eternity ;  it  terminates  an  earthly  ex- 


280  DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  TAYLOR. 

istence,  it  opens  an  immortal  one.  But  this  death 
will  strike  the  world  as  an  event  marked  by  more 
than  common  solemnity.  We  mingle  our  tears  over 
the  bier  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  a  great  nation. 
"We  will  honor  his  memory,  and  we  will  claim  his 
fame  for  his  whole  country.  Henceforth  he  belongs 
to  his  country,  and  his  name  is  a  part  of  our  common 
inheritance.  His  last  public  act  was  in  honor  of  the 
memory  of  Washington :  he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  that 
noble  monument  which  is  rising  to  the  skies,  built  up 
by  the  present  generation  for  one  whom  all  call  bless- 
ed. By  this  time  he  has,  it  may  be  hoped,  met  the 
revered  Father  of  his  Country  in  a  world  where  their 
companionship  will  be  eternal.  His  memory  is  safe 
— no  human  events  can  now  aifect  it ;  the  great  qual- 
ities, the  private  virtues,  the  public  services,  all  that 
is  precious  in  his  memory,  has  received  the  seal  of 
Death. 

"  The  love  where  Death  has  set  his  seal, 
Nor  age  can  chill,  nor  rival  steal, 
Nor  falsehood  disavow," 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEX- 
ICO. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  AUGUST  28th,  1850. 

Mr.  Hilliard  said, 

MR.  SPEAKER, — I  feel  some  reluctance  in  address- 
ing the  House  at  this  time,  but  the  profound  anxiety 
with  which  I  regard  the  state  of  the  country  impels 
me  to  speak.  We  present  the  extraordinary  specta- 
cle of  a  people  prosperous  beyond  example,  rapidly 
advancing  in  wealth  and  power,  at  peace  with  every 
nation  on  the  globe,  sending  our  products  and  the 
fruits  of  our  industry  of  every  description  under  the 
protection  of  our  flag  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  our 
ports  crowded  with  emigrants  flying  from  the  oppres- 
sion of  European  systems  of  government  to  seek  a 
refuge  and  a  home  under  our  own  free  institutions, 
yet  torn  by  internal  dissensions  which  threaten  to 
overthrow  the  republic. 

I  could  not  survey  this  scene  with  any  other  feel- 
ing than  that  of  profound  apprehension,  if  it  were 
not  for  the  reflection  that  we  hold  the  subject  of  con- 
troversy completely*  within  our  control.  The  whole 
task  of  adjustment  is  confided  to  us.  The  subject  so 
long  discussed  in  the  Senate  has  passed  from  that 
body ;  it  is  now  before  us ;  no  other  human  tribunal 
can  decide  it ;  the  responsibility,  with  all  its  weight, 


282    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

rests  upon  us.  We  can  give  the  country  peace,  or 
we  can  withhold  it. 

I  intend,  sir,  at  whatever  hazard  or  sacrifice  of  a 
personal  kind,  to  do  my  duty  to  the  country,  and  to 
contribute  what  I  can,  consistently  with  my  obliga- 
tions as  a  representative,  to  the  adjustment  of  the 
great  questions  which  are  before  us.  They  are  kin- 
dred questions ;  some  of  them  may  be  said  to  be  de- 
pendent on  each  other.  They  all  grew  out  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas. 

The  first  of  these  questions  in  dignity  and  impor- 
tance is  that  respecting  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Tex- 
as. That  state  claims  for  her  western  boundary  the 
Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  from  its  mouth  to  its  source, 
and  a  line  thence  due  north  to  the  forty-second  par- 
allel of  north  latitude.  Texas  was  a  state  of  the 
Mexican  republic;  she  took  up  arms  against  that 
government;  threw  off  its  authority;  declared  her 
independence,  and  established  it  triumphantly  upon 
the  field  of  SAN  JACINTO.,  She  proceeded  to  organize 
a  permanent  government,  and  declared  her  limits. 
Was  she  entitled  to  the  territory  which  she  claimed 
as  an  independent  state  ?  Was  her  title  to  the  coun- 
try lying  on  the  Bio  Grande,  and  which  Mexico 
claimed  adversely,  and  in  part  held  by  actual  occu- 
pancy, good  as  against  that  republic  ? 

This  question  depends  upon  the  principle  whether 
a  state,  after  a  successful  revolution,  is  entitled  to  the 
territory  embraced  within  her  ancient  boundaries,  or 
whether  it  is  to  be  confined  to  the  limits  within  which 
she  has  actually  established  her  jurisdiction  by  the 
sword. 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     283 

The  independence  of  Texas  was  recognized  by  the 
United  States,  by  Great  Britain,  by  France,  and  by 
Holland.  The  ancient  limits  of  the  new  state  stretch- 
ed to  the  Bio  Grande,  from  its  mouth  to  El  Baso. 
It  at  that  time  constituted  a  part  of  an  extensive 
country,  to  all  of  which  the  name  of  Louisiana  was 
applied.  That  province  extended  to  the  Bio  Grande, 
and  this  was  insisted  upon  by  Mr.  Monroe  and  by 
Mr.  Binckney  in  1805,  in  the  most  emphatic  terms. 
They  argued  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  that 
district  of  territory,  and  maintained  it.  The  claim 
had  the  sanction  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  was  at  that 
time  Bresident,  and  of  Mr.  Madison,  who  was  Secre- 
tary of  State.  Subsequently  that  part  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Louisiana  known  as  Texas  was  ceded  by  the 
United  States  to  Spain.  Mexico,  by  a  successful 
revolution,  wrested  the  Spanish  provinces  from  that 
power,  and  Texas  became  one  of  the  states  of  the  new 
republic. 

By  the  revolution  to  which  I  have  already  advert- 
ed, she  became  an  independent  state,  and  declared  her 
ancient  boundaries,  with  the  farther  claim  to  the  ter- 
ritory on  the  Upper  Bio  Grande.  She  was  proceed- 
ing to  bring  the  whole  territory  claimed  by  her  un- 
der her  jurisdiction  at  the  period  of  her  annexation 
to  the  United  States. 

There  might  be  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
validity  of  the  title  of  Texas  to  the  territory  bor- 
dering on  the  Bio  Grande,  but  there  is  much  in  her 
history  to  sustain  it.  She  was  an  independent  state, 
and  recognized  as  such  by  the  great  powers  of  the 
world.  Mr.  Webster,  when  Secretary  of  State  in  1 842, 


284    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

in  his  characteristic  style,  marked  with  clearness  and 
power,  addressed  an  emphatic  statement  of  the  polit- 
ical condition  of  Texas  to  our  minister  then  residing 
at  the  city  of  Mexico : 

"From  the  time  of  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  in 
April,  1836,  to  the  present  moment,  Texas  has  ex- 
hibited the  same  external  signs  of  national  independ- 
ence as  Mexico  herself,  and  with  as  much  stability 
of  government.  Practically  free  and  independent, 
acknowledged  as  a  political  sovereignty  by  the  prin- 
cipal powers  of  the  world,  no  hostile  foot  finding  rest 
within  her  territory  for  six  or  seven  years,  and  Mex- 
ico herself  refraining  for  all  that  period  from  any  at- 
tempt to  re-establish  her  own  authority  over  that  ter- 
ritory," &c.,  &c. 

Such  was  Texas  previous  to  her  annexation  to  the 
United  States,  a  free  and  independent  state,  sending 
and  receiving  diplomatic  agents  to  and  from  other 
states,  enjoying  all  the  rights  of  a  regular  and  well- 
established  government,  and  embracing  within  the 
boundaries  asserted  by  her  all  the  territory  which 
she  now  claims. 

I  proceed  now  to  inquire  into  the  validity  of  her 
title  to  this  territory  as  one  of  the  states  of  the 
Union.  Whatever  conclusion  might  be  reached  upon 
an  investigation  of  her  claim  to  the  territory  against 
the  adverse  claim  of  Mexico  previous  to  her  annex- 
ation to  the  United  States,  it  seems  to  me  that  her 
title  to  this  territory  at  this  time  is  supported  by  con- 
siderations too  powerful  to  be  resisted.  If  there  be 
any  adverse  title,  it  is  in  the  United  States,  and  I  am 
confident  that  a  statement  of  the  argument  in  support 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     285 

of  the  claim  of  Texas  as  against  that  set  up  for  the 
United  States,  must  bring  all  minds  to  which  it  is 
presented  to  an  admission,  however  reluctantly  made, 
of  its  validity  and  its  strength. 

The  claim  of  Texas  to  all  the  territory  now  em- 
braced within  the  limits  fixed  by  her  Constitution 
was  well  known  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States  previous  to  the  annexation  of  that  state. 

Mr.  Vinton  (Mr.  Hilliard  yielding  the  floor  to  him 
for  explanation)  stated  that  it  had  been  several  times 
asserted  upon  this  floor  that  the  boundaries  of  Texas 
were  fixed  in  her  Constitution,  but  that,  upon  exam- 
ination, he  had  not  been  able  to  find  them  laid  down 
in  any  Constitution  formed  by  that  state. 

Mr.  Hilliard  resumed :  It  is  not  at  all  important, 
Mr.  Speaker,  so  far  as  the  argument  is  concerned, 
whether  the  boundaries  of  Texas  were  defined  by  her 
Constitution  or  not.  They  were  certainly  defined 
clearly  by  an  act  of  her  Legislature ;  and  this  solemn 
declaration  of  the  title  of  Texas  to  the  whole  extent 
of  the  territory  bordering  on  the  Bio  Grande  del 
Norte,  from  its  mouth  to  its  source,  continuing  upon 
a  line  drawn  thence  to  the  forty-second  parallel  of 
latitude,  was  made  known  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States  when  the  measure  of  annexation  was 
proposed  to  that  state.  That  part  of  the  territory 
lying  on  the  Upper  Rio  Grande  was  certainly  held 
at  that  time  by  Mexico,  but  Texas  was  asserting  her 
title  to  it,  and  taking  steps  to  bring  it  under  her  ju- 
risdiction. 

It  was  our  policy  to  avoid  a  war  with  Mexico,  and 
as  this  disputed  boundary-line  might  lead  to  a  col- 


286    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

lision  between  Texas  and  that  republic,  and  of  course 
involve  the  United  States  in  it,  it  was  provided  in 
the  resolutions  by  which  Texas  was  annexed  to  the 
Union,  that  the  adjustment  of  all  questions  of  bound- 
ary should  be  intrusted  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  The  precise  language  is  this :  u  Said 
state  to  be  formed,  subject  to  the  adjustment  by  this 
government  of  all  questions  of  boundary  that  may 
arise  with  other  governments.11 

The  United  States  government  then  was  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  claim  of  Texas,  and  undertook  to 
adjust  it — not  to  relinquish  it,  not  to  negotiate  that 
it  might  vest  in  itself,  but  to  adjust  it ;  which  devolved 
upon  our  government  the  duty  of  enforcing  the  claim 
of  Texas,  and  of  urging  it  upon  Mexico  in  good  faith. 
At  that  time,  no  other  construction  than  this  was 
put  upon  the  resolutions  of  annexation ;  they  were 
clearly  understood  by  the  two  contracting  parties — 
the  government  of  the  United  States  and  that  of 
Texas — by  Mexico,  and  by  all  the  world.  In  pursu- 
ance of  the  resolutions,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  promptly  opened  communications  with  the 
government  of  Mexico,  that  republic  having  with- 
drawn its  minister  from  Washington,  and  proposed 
to  negotiate  for  the  recognition  of  the  Bio  Grande 
del  Norte  as  the  western  boundary  of  Texas.  Mex- 
ico actually  consented  to  receive  a  commissioner  to 
negotiate  for  that  object.  Mr.  Polk  thought  it  prop- 
er to  send  an  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  to  the  government  of  Mexico,  with 
general  powers.  Mr.  Slidell  was  selected  to  perform 
the  delicate  and  important  duties  which  his  mission 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.    287 

involved.  He  proceeded  to  Vera  Cruz,  and  was 
urged  by  the  friends  of  the  government  then  existing 
in  Mexico  to  wait  until  its  power  was  somewhat  bet- 
ter consolidated  before  approaching  the  capital;  he 
declined  the  counsel,  inconsiderately  hastened  to  the 
city  of  Mexico,  and  presented  his  credentials,  which 
were  rejected,  on  the  ground  that  the  relations  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Mexico  were  not  such 
as  to  render  it  proper  that  the  ordinary  diplomatic 
intercourse  should  be  resumed  between  them,  and  that 
it  was  understood  a  special  commissioner  was  to  be 
accredited  to  the  Mexican  government,  empowered  to 
negotiate  for  the  adjustment  of  questions  growing  out 
of  the  annexation  of  Texas. 

"What  was  the  view  taken  at  that  time  by  our  gov- 
ernment of  the  claim  of  Texas  to  the  Rio  Grande  as 
her  boundary?  The  only  part  of  the  territory  which 
the  government  of  the  United  States  thought  Mexico 
could  dispute  with  Texas  was  that  bordering  on  the 
upper  part  of  that  stream,  and  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  the  province  of  New  Mexico ;  and  that  it 
undertook  to  secure  for  Texas.  This  will  be  made 
perfectly  plain  by  looking  into  the  instructions  which 
Mr.  Buchanan,  then  Secretary  of  State,  gave  to  Mr. 
Slidell  when  about  to  enter  upon  his  mission.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  some  of  our  citizens  had 
claims  on  Mexico,  which  that  republic  had  not  found 
it  convenient  to  discharge.  The  internal  disorders 
from  which  it  had  suffered  had  impoverished  it. 
These  claims  were  for  years  pressed  upon  Mexico, 
and  when  Mr.  Slidell  was  about  to  enter  upon  the 
task  of  negotiating  with  Mexico  for  the  adjustment 


288    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

of  the  dispute  with  Texas  in  regard  to  her  boundary, 
he  was  instructed  by  Mr.  Buchanan  to  bring  them 
up  for  settlement.  It  was  well  known  that  Mexico 
was  not  able  at  that  time  to  pay  them,  but  it  was 
for  this  precise  reason  that  Mr.  Slidell  was  to  urge 
them.  Mr.  Buchanan  says : 

uThe  fact  is  too  well  known  to  the  world  that  the 
Mexican  government  are  not  now  in  a  condition  to 
satisfy  these  claims  by  the  payment  of  money.  Un- 
less the  debt  should  be  assumed  by  the  government 
of  the  United  Stutes,  the  claimants  can  not  receive 
what  is  justly  their  due.  Fortunately,  the  joint  res- 
olution of  Congress,  approved  1st  March,  1845,  cfor 
annexing  Texas  to  the  United  States,1  presents  the 
means  of  satisfying  these  claims,  in  perfect  consist- 
ency with  the  interests  as  well  as  the  honor  of  both 
republics.  It  has  reserved  to  this  government  the 
adjustment  '  of  all  questions  of  boundary  that  may 
arise  with  other  governments.'  This  question  of 
boundary  may  therefore  be  adjusted  in  such  a  man- 
ner between  the  two  republics  as  to  cast  the  burden 
of  debt  due  to  American  claimants  on  their  own  gov- 
ernment, while  it  will  do  no  injury  to  Mexico." 

Mr.  Buchanan  proceeded  to  inform  Mr.  Slidell  that 
Texas  declared  the  Rio  del  Norte,  from  its  mouth  to 
its  source,  to  be  a  boundary  of  that  republic,  and 
stated  that  the  right  of  Texas  to  that  boundary  as  far 
up  the  stream  as  El  Paso  was  not  likely  to  be  ques- 
tioned seriously.  His  argument  in  support  of  that 
position  is  an  able  one.  He  admitted  that  the  case 
in  regard  to  New  Mexico  was  different,  and  that 
Texas  had  never  subjected  that  part  of  the  territory 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     289 

to  her  jurisdiction.  What,  then,  was  the  view  taken 
by  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  the  claim 
of  Texas  to  the  territory  lying  on  the  Rio  Grande  ? 
Clearly  that,  so  far  as  the  territory  up  to  El  Paso 
was  concerned,  it  was  too  strong  to  be  questioned, 
and  that  so  much  of  it  as  was  north  of  that  point 
was  subject  to  adjustment  with  Mexico.  The  title 
of  Texas  to  that  part  of  the  territory  was  to  be  urged, 
and  Mr.  Slidell  was  instructed  to  offer  to  assume  the 
payment  of  all  the  just  claims  of  our  citizens  against 
Mexico,  ''should  she  agree  that  the  line  shall  be 
established  along  the  boundary  defined  by  the  act  of 
Congress  of  Texas,  approved  December  19,  1836,  to 
wit:  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
thence  up  the  principal  stream  of  said  river  to  its 
source,  thence  due  north  to  the  forty-second  degree 
of  north  latitude." 

A  debt  already  pronounced  to  be  worthless  was  to 
be  discharged,  in  consideration  of  a  relinquishment 
by  the  party  from  whom  it  was  due  of  a  disputed 
claim  to  the  territory  within  the  declared  limits  of 
one  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Slidell  was  instructed 
to  offer  the  payment  of  five  millions  of  dollars  to 
Mexico,  should  she  agree  to  transfer  to  the  United 
States  that  part  of  New  Mexico  west  of  the  Rio 
Grande ;  and  one  of  the  considerations  which  he  was 
to  present  to  Mexico,  to  induce  her  to  consent  to  the 
sale  of  this  province,  was  the  fact  that  so  much  of  it 
as  was  east  of  the  river  dividing  it  was  already  em- 
braced within  the  limits  declared  by  Texas.  He  was 
instructed  to  offer  a  still  larger  sum  for  Upper  Cali- 
fornia. 

T 


290     BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

Such,  sir,  was  the  view  taken  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States  of  the  title  of  Texas  to  the  ter- 
ritory claimed  by  her  at  the  date  of  her  annexation, 
when  that  title  was  to  be  asserted  and  maintained 
against  the  adverse  claim  of  Mexico.  The  title  of 
Texas  was  asserted,  and  the  government  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  offered  to  that  of  Mexico  a  worthless  debt 
due  to  our  citizens  for  a  worthless  claim  set  up  against 
one  of  the  states. 

Upon  Mr.  Slidell's  rejection  by  the  government  of 
Mexico,  what  was  then  the  course  of  our  government? 
Was  the  title  of  Texas  abandoned?  Was  it  ever  re- 
garded as  a  doubtful  title  ?  So  far  from  it,  General 
Taylor  proceeded,  under  orders  from  the  government, 
to  take  possession  of  the  territory  between  the  Nue- 
ces  and  that  stream ;  and  selecting  a  position  on  the 
very  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande — the  extreme  western 
line  claimed  by  Texas — he  threw  up  his  works  op- 
posite Matamoras.  That  position  was  chosen  with 
a  view  to  the  defense  of  the  whole  territory  claimed 
by  the  state  which  we  had  taken  under  our  protec- 
tion, and  it  was  occupied  as  the  soil  of  the  United 
States,  because  it  was  a  part  of  Texas. 

Mr.  Ashmun  (interrupting  Mr.  H.)  held  that  these 
were  the  acts  of  but  a  single  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment— of  the  executive.  Congress,  he  said,  had  sol- 
emnly refused  to  recognize  the  constitutionality  of 
those  acts. 

Mr.  Howard  reminded  the  gentleman  from  Massa- 
chusetts that,  in  his  orders  to  General  Taylor,  Secre- 
tary Marcy  had  directed  him  to  take  post  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  which  was  to  be  the  western  boundary  of 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     291 

Texas  in  case  the   annexation  then  pending  took 
place. 

Mr.  Hilliard  resumed.  No,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  force 
of  this  clear  recognition  of  the  Bio  Grande  as  the 
western  boundary  of  Texas  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States  can  not  be  impaired  in  that  way. 
Congress  immediately  voted  supplies  to  enable  Gen- 
eral Taylor  to  hold  his  position,  and  that  vote  was  a 
solemn  recognition  of  the  boundary  asserted  by  Tex- 
as ;  otherwise,  instead  of  voting  supplies,  the  troops 
should  have  been  instantly  withdrawn  to  some  point 
east  of  the  Nueces.  I  do  not  vindicate  the  course  of 
the  President;  his  order  should  not  have  been  given 
without  the  authority  of  Congress  ;  but  I  insist  that 
the  subsequent  action  of  Congress  was  an  explicit 
recognition  of  the  validity  of  the  title  of  Texas  to  the 
full  extent  of  the  boundaries  asserted  by  her.  In 
fact,  the  action  of  every  department  of  the  govern- 
ment which  has  had  any  reference  to  the  claim  of 
Texas  upon  the  territory  embraced  within  the  bound- 
aries defined  by  the  act  of  her  Legislature,  has  recog- 
nized and  affirmed  that  claim  to  its  fullest  extent. 

The  occupation  of  the  country  bordering  on  the 
Bio  Grande  was  followed  by  a  war  with  Mexico. 
Our  troops  held  that  country,  overran  and  took  pos- 
session of  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  and 
brought  them  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States  as 
conquered  provinces.  By  a  series  of  brilliant  victo- 
ries, a  complete  ascendency  was  obtained  over  Mex- 
ico, and  a  treaty  of  peace  and  of  limits  was  at  length 
concluded  with  that  republic,  leaving  the  United 
States  in  possession  of  every  acre  of  the  territory 


292    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

claimed  by  Texas,  and  a  large  district  of  country  be- 
sides, stretching  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  adverse 
claim  of  Mexico  to  the  territory  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande  was  extinguished,  and,  eo  instante,  the  title 
of  Texas  covered  it.  The  government  of  the  United 
States  is,  in  the  language  of  the  law,  estopped  from 
asserting  any  claim  to  that  territory;  its  mouth  is 
closed;  it  is  forever  concluded  by  its  own  admis- 
sions— by  its  own  assertions — by  its  own  acts.  The 
only  adverse  title  to  that  of  Texas  being  abandoned, 
the  title  of  that  state  to  its  whole  territory  is  good 
against  the  world.  The  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo 
does  not  make  any  transfer  of  territory  to  the  United 
States,  but  the  boundaries  between  the  two  republics 
are  defined ;  and  while  the  limits  of  New  Mexico  are 
referred  to  as  forming  part  of  the  new  boundary,  the 
reference  is  to  the  southern  and  western  limits,  no 
mention  being  made  of  the  eastern  boundary  of  that 
province.  The  map  which  accompanied  the  treaty 
shows,  I  believe,  the  territory  of  Texas  marked  out 
as  asserted  by  her  Legislature,  and  as  recognized  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States. 

How  can  the  boundaries  of  that  state  be  now  ques- 
tioned by  the  United  States  ?  Let  us  suppose  that 
Mexico  had  accepted  the  offer  which  Mr.  Slidell  was 
empowered  to  make,  and  had  withdrawn  her  claim 
to  that  part  of  New  Mexico  east  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
would  not  Texas  have  been  invited  by  our  govern- 
ment at  once  to  extend  her  jurisdiction  over  that  ter- 
ritory? Or  if,  upon  the  march  of  General  Taylor  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  Mexico  had  declined  war,  and  had 
abandoned  all  the  territory  claimed  by  her  east  of 


BOUNDARY  OP  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     293 

that  stream,  would  it  have  occurred  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  to  question  the  right  of 
Texas  to  take  instant  possession  of  the  whole  extent 
of  it  ?  No,  sir ;  and  if  we  had  never  acquired  that 
part  of  the  province  of  New  Mexico  which  lies  west 
of  the  Bio  Grande,  no  one  would  have  disputed  the 
title  of  Texas  to  the  fragment  east  of  the  river.  Can 
the  claim  of  Texas  be  affected  by  the  acquisition  of 
the  western  part  of  the  province? 

After  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  a 
message  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  admitted 
the  right  of  Texas  to  take  possession  of  the  country 
which  she  claimed,  in  its  fullest  extent.  He  refers 
to  the  joint  resolution  of  Congress  annexing  Texas 
to  the  United  States,  and  the  adjustment  of  questions 
of  boundary  for  which  it  provides,  and  adds : 

"Until  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the  late 
treaty,  New  Mexico  never  became  an  undisputed  por- 
tion of  the  United  States,  and  it  would  therefore 
have  been  premature  to  deliver  over  to  Texas  that 
portion  of  it  on  the  east  side  of  the  Kio  Grande  to 

which  she  asserted  a  claim. 

#         *         #         #         #         #         #         & 

u  Under  the  circumstances  existing  during  the 
pendency  of  the  war,  and  while  the  whole  of  New 
Mexico,  as  claimed  by  our  enemy,  was  in  our  military 
occupation,  I  was  not  unmindful  of  the  rights  of 
Texas  to  that  portion  of  it  which  she  claimed  to  be 
within  her  limits." 

"While  the  war  with  Mexico  was  in  progress,  the 
Governor  of  Texas  demanded  of  the  government  of 


294     BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

the  United  States  an  explanation  of  the  reasons  for 
organizing  a  government  at  Santa  Fe  ;  and  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  under  instructions  from  the  President, 
replied  that  the  government  was  a  temporary  one, 
and  would  cease  upqn  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Mexico.  c  4  Nothing, "  he  adds,  c  c therefore, 
can  be  more  certain  than  that  this  temporary  govern- 
ment, resulting  from  necessity,  can  never  injuriously 
affect  the  right  which  the  President  believes  to  be 
justly  asserted  by  Texas  to  the  whole  territory  on 
this  side  of  the  Rio  Grande  whenever  the  Mexican 
claim  to  it  shall  have  been  extinguished  by  treaty." 

During  the  progress  of  the  war,  while  Texas,  in 
common  with  the  other  states,  was  contributing  her 
part  toward  achieving  the  victories  which  resulted  in 
the  acquisition  of  the  immense  territory  ceded  to  us 
by  Mexico,  she  was  assured  that  her  title  to  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Rio  Grande  was  recognized,  and 
that  no  occupation  of  it  by  the  military  forces  of  the 
United  States  could  injuriously  aifect  it. 

Now,  sir,  I  insist  that  the  title  of  Texas  to  the 
whole  of  the  country  claimed  by  her  is  perfect,  and 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  ought 
promptly  to  declare  it  to  be  so,  and  to  invite  that 
.  state  either  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  it,  or  to 
accept  some  satisfactory  boundary,  with  ample  com- 
pensation for  the  relinquishment  of  her  right  to  the 
territory  which  she  consents  to  give  up.  The  claim 
of  Texas  is  resisted  upon  two  grounds.  Some  insist 
that  her  title  to  the  territory  bordering  on  the  Rio 
Grande  vests  in  the  United  States,  while  others  set 
up  a  claim  for  New  Mexico,  and  object  to  any  divi- 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     295 

sion  of  that  province  upon  the  ground  that  the  gov- 
ernment is  bound  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty  to  admit 
it  as  a  state  into  the  Union. 

I  trust  that  I  have  already  satisfactorily  shown 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  could  not 
acquire  the  title  to  the  territory  in  dispute ;  it  set  up 
no  claim  of  its  own ;  it  undertook  to  assert  that  of 
Texas ;  it  extinguished  the  adverse  claim  of  Mexico, 
the  only  adverse  claim  in  existence,  and  by  that 
means  perfected  the  title  of  Texas.  To  allow  the 
government  now  to  assert  its  own  title  would  be  a 
violation  of  every  principle  of  equity,  which  no  judi- 
cial tribunal  could  sanction,  and  would  be  a  flagrant 
breach  of  good  faith,  which  the  universal  sentiment 
of  mankind  would  condemn. 

As  to  New  Mexico,  it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a 
political  community,  or  an  entity,  as  Carlyle  would 
express  it,  but  as  so  much  territory  belonging  to  the 
United  States,  except  that  part  of  it  which  is  included 
within  the  limits  of  Texas.  "We  may  construct  a 
government  for  it,  and  embrace  the  whole  territory 
west  of  the  Bio  Grande  in  it,  or  we  may  divide  it,  as 
we  think  best. 

The  treaty  does  not  guarantee  to  the  inhabitants  a 
separate  existence  as  a  political  community.  Its  lan- 
guage is,  "The  Mexicans  who,  in  the  territories 
aforesaid,  shall  not  preserve  the  character  of  citizens 
of  the  Mexican  republic,  conformably  with  what  is 
stipulated  in  the  preceding  article,  shall  be  incorpo- 
rated into  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and  be  ad- 
mitted at  the  proper  time  (to  be  judged  of  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States)  to  the  enjoyment  of 


296    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

all  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  accord- 
ing to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution,  and,  in  the 
mean  time,  shall  be  maintained  and  protected  in  the 
free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty  and  property,  and  se- 
cured in  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  without  re- 
striction." 

The  territories  referred  to  in  this  article,  the 
ninth,  are  those  which  previously  belonged  to  Mex- 
ico, and  the  inhabitants  are  to  enjoy  certain  rights 
instantly — such  as  the  right  of  liberty,  of  property, 
and  of  religion ;  and  subsequently,  when  Congress 
shall  judge  it  to  be  proper,  they  are  to  have  conferred 
on  them  the  privileges  of  American  citizens  by  being 
incorporated  into  the  Union.  How  incorporated 
into  the  Union  ?  As  separate  states  ?  The  treaty  is 
silent  as  to  states — it  speaks  of  inhabitants,  of  indi- 
viduals. To  contend  that  the  provinces,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  territories  previously  belonging  to  Mex- 
ico, are  to  be  admitted  as  states,  and  that  reference  is 
to  be  had  to  their  former  boundaries,  is  a  gross  mis- 
construction of  the  treaty ;  it  would,  if  accepted  and 
acted  on,  put  it  out  of  our  power  to  limit  the  bound- 
aries of  Upper  California  to  smaller  dimensions  than 
it  heretofore  possessed.  The  treaty  simply  guaran- 
tees to  the  inhabitants  of  the  territories  acquired 
from  Mexico  the  privilege  of  American  citizenship. 
This  privilege  might  have  been  denied  to  them  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States  if  there  had  not 
been  an  explicit  stipulation  to  that  effect  in  the  treaty, 
and  they  might  have  been  kept  perpetually  under  the 
same  absolute  form  of  rule  to  which  they  are  now 
subjected  by  the  neglect  of  Congress  to  provide  a  bet- 
ter system  for  them. 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     297 

Story,  in  his  work  on  the  Constitution,  says : 
'"In  cases  of  confirmation  or  cession  by  treaty,  the 
acquisition  becomes  firm  and  stable,  and  the  ceded 
territory  becomes  a  part  of  the  nation  to  which  it  is 
annexed,  either  on  terms  stipulated  in  the  treaty,  or 
on  such  as  its  new  master  shall  impose.  The  rela- 
tions of  the  inhabitants  with  each  other  do  not  change, 
but  their  relations  with  their  former  sovereign  are 
dissolved,  and  new  relations  are  created  between 
them  and  their  new  sovereign.  If  the  treaty  stipu- 
lates that  they  shall  enjoy  the  privileges,  rights,  and 
immunities  of  citizens  of  the  States,  the  treaty,  as  a 
part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  becomes  obligatory  in 
these  respects.  Whether  the  same  effects  would  re- 
sult from  the  mere  fact  of  their  becoming  inhabitants 
and  citizens  by  the  cession,  without  any  express  stip- 
ulation, may  deserve  inquiry,  if  the  question  should 


ever  occur." 


It  was  to  secure  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  territories  acquired 
from  Mexico,  and  who  should  become  permanent  res- 
idents within  them,  that  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty 
was  inserted;  for,  without  that  article,  the  inhabit- 
ants, cut  off  from  their  own  country,  might  never, 
after  their  transfer  to  another  sovereignty,  enjoy  the 
rights  and  immunities  of  citizenship.  This  is  all  that 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  in  the  treaty, 
undertakes  to  do  ;  it  must  protect  the  inhabitants  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  enumerated  until  they 
rise  to  the  higher  dignity  of  citizens,  by  being  incor- 
porated into  some  state  of  the  Union.  That  would, 
ipso  facto,  make  them  citizens  of  the  United  States, 


298    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

and,  so  far  from  being  a  violation  of  the  treaty,  it 
would  be  an  explicit  compliance  with  its  terms.  So 
far,  then,  as  that  objection  to  extending  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Texas  over  the  territory  which  at  one  time 
constituted  a  part  of  New  Mexico  is  concerned,  it  is 
disposed  of.  The  obligation  upon  Congress  to  recog- 
nize and  respect  the  title  of  that  state  to  the  whole 
extent  of  the  territory  claimed  by  her,  seems  to  me  to 
be  clear  and  imperative.  Yet  I  am  aware  that  many 
persons  think  of  that  title  very  differently ;  they 
question  it,  and  insist  that  the  state  should  be  turned 
over  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  a  decision  upon  her 
claim  to  the  Rio  Grande  as  her  western  boundary. 

Some,  indeed,  go  so  far  as  to  deny  that  Texas  has 
even  the  color  of  title  to  any  part  of  the  territory  be- 
yond the  Nueces ;  and,  in  reply  to  her  earnest  demand 
that  her  jurisdiction  shall  be  acknowledged  over  her 
own  soil,  they  urge  that  arms  shall  be  employed  to 
resist  her  attempt  to  enforce  it. 

Mr.  Speaker,  Texas  ought  to  be  dealt  with  gener- 
ously. So  far  from  meriting  the  reproaches  with 
which  she  is  sometimes  loaded,  she  ought  to  receive 
a  cordial  welcome  into  the  family  of  American  states. 
By  her  own  gallantry  she  originated  and  carried 
through  successfully  a  revolution  against  the  govern- 
ment of  Mexico,  when  that  republic  overthrew  the 
Constitution  which  was  framed  for  the  protection  of 
the  liberties  of  her  people.  Alone,  with  a  sparse  pop- 
ulation, with  slender  means,  with  no  regular  troops, 
that  state  formed  the  heroic  purpose  of  achieving  its 
independence,  and  it  accomplished  it.  The  field  of 
San  Jacinto  takes  rank  with  other  plains  upon  which 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     299 

tyranny  has  been  cloven  down,  and  the  flag  of  free- 
dom has  been  unfurled.  That  flag,  spread  to  the 
breeze  by  the  brave  men  who  struck  for  liberty  un- 
der it,  with  a  single  star  glittering  upon  its  folds, 
was  never  lowered ;  it  was  kept  flying  until  the  eyes 
of  the  civilized  world  caught  sight  of  it,  and  hailed  it 
as  the  ensign  of  an  independent  state,  and  the  great 
powers  of  the  globe  sent  their  embassadors  to  welcome 
her  into  the  family  of  nations.  She  appealed  to  us 
to  receive  her,  and  we  rejected  her.  She  was  still 
threatened  with  the  power  of  the  government  from 
which  she  had  revolted.  She  turned  naturally  to  us 
for  succor,  for  defense;  we  did  not  extend  it.  We 
acknowledged  her  independence — so  did  the  sover- 
eigns of  Europe. 

In  the  course  of  years,  when  the  state  had  grown 
strong,  and  when  powerful  nations  sought  to  bind 
her  to  them  by  treaties  of  friendship  and  commerce 
— when  her  existence  was  no  longer  a  thing  to  be 
questioned,  but  her  young  energies  began  to  develop 
themselves,  and  to  influence  the  affairs  of  the  Chris- 
tian world,  then  we  proifered  our  alliance,  and  in- 
vited her  to  merge  her  nationality  in  the  American 
Union.  Sir,  it  is  within  my  personal  knowledge 
that,  as  early  as  1844,  the  independence  of  Texas 
might  have  been  acknowledged  by  Mexico  upon  the 
condition  that  she  would  bind  herself  to  continue  an 
independent  state,  unconnected  with  our  confederacy. 
I  was  at  that  time  in  Europe,  and  in  an  interview 
with  an  official  person  of  high  rank,  this  fact  was  dis- 
closed to  me.  Mexico  foresaw  her  danger  from  our 
neighboring  power,  and  it  was  her  object  to  interpose 


300    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

a  feebler  republic  between  herself  and  the  United 
States  as  a  barrier  against  an  incursion  which  she 
dreaded.  Some  of  the  great  states  of  Europe  were 
interested  in  effecting  this  arrangement  from  other 
considerations.  I  informed  our  government  of  the 
state  of  affairs,  and  the  next  year  it  became  known 
to  the  world  that  Mexico  had  in  the  most  solemn 
form  consented,  through  the  intervention  of  the  Brit- 
ish and  French  governments,  to  acknowledge  the  in- 
dependence of  Texas,  provided  she  would  stipulate 
not  to  annex  herself  or  to  become  subject  to  any  coun- 
try whatever. 

I  am  asked  if  Mexico  consented  to  acknowledge 

o 

the  Rio  Grande  as  the  boundary  of  Texas.  My  re- 
ply is,  that  I  heard  no  other  condition  named  than 
that  of  remaining  a  distinct  state.  That  was  the 
single  condition. 

But  Texas,  true  to  her  American  sympathies,  true 
to  her  lineage,  true  to  her  love  of  constitutional  lib- 
erty, declined  the  proposal,  and  entered  into  our 
Union,  giving  another  star  to  our  flag,  and  adding  to 
our  possessions  a  magnificent  domain. 

And  now,  sir,  when  this  state  asks  for  the  bound- 
aries which  she  has  at  all  times  asserted,  we  are  call- 
ed on  to  turn  her  over  to  the  Supreme  Court  to  have 
them  passed  upon.  We  have  heretofore  acknowl- 
edged her  boundaries — acknowledged,  did  I  say  ?  we 
have  asserted  them,  urged  them,  vindicated  them  at 
the  mouth  of  the  cannon,  shed  the  blood  of  our  peo- 
ple in  defense  of  them ;  and  now,  when  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  having  them  granted  by  her  ancient  foe,  we 
bid  this  young  state,  coming  to  us  upon  our  own  earn- 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     301 

est  invitation,  to  go  and  make  good  her  claim,  if  she 
can,  before  our  own  judicial  tribunal.  I  know  that  it 
is  an  august  tribunal :  I  would  not  lessen  its  imposing 
dignity ;  I  would  rather  add  to  it  every  sanction  that 
could  give  potency  to  its  high  functions ;  but  I  trust 
that  an  American  Congress  will  never  send  Texas 
away  from  its  chambers  to  urge  her  claim  to  her 
boundaries  before  any  tribunal  under  Heaven.  It  is 
a  spectacle  which  I  never  desire  to  witness  ;  it  would 
leave  an  ineffaceable  stain  upon  our  escutcheon,  which 
to-day  is  a  resplendent  one. 

I  am  not  surprised  at  the  impatience  which  Texas 
exhibits  under  the  delay  of  our  government  to  ac- 
knowledge her  rightful  jurisdiction  over  her  soil,  but 
I  trust  she  will  not  attempt  to  assert  her  claim  by 
arms.  Under  our  system,  arms  must  not  decide  such 
disputes.  There  is  no  place  for  them.  Law,  consti- 
tutional law,  lifts  up  its  voice  between  contending 
parties,  and  by  its  majesty  rebukes  the  appeal  to 
arms.  They  are  not  in  harmony  with  the  system 
which  binds  these  states.  They  must  not  be  em- 
ployed on  either  side  in  this  controversy.  They  are 
to  be  taken  up  only  when  a  people,  hopeless  of  other 
relief  against  a  government  which  oppresses  them, 
appeal*  to  the  ultima  ratio  of  kings,  of  states,  and  of 
men.  If  Texas  should  listen  to  the  counsel  of  those 
who  urge  her  to  employ  force  in  vindication  of  her 
rights,  she  will  listen  to  unwise  and  rash  counselors. 
It  is  not  her  interest  to  introduce  brute  force  for  the 
arbitrament  of  disputes  under  this  government.  Let 
her  rather  invoke  the  aegis  of  law.  Let  her  appeal 
to  us.  I  have  an  unshaken  confidence  in  the  honor, 


302     BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

the  magnanimity,  and  the  patriotism  of  Congress. 
The  bill  sent  to  us  from  the  Senate,  and  upon  which 
a  question  is  about  to  be  taken,  is  a  pledge  of  the 
purpose  of  that  body,  at  least,  to  treat  her  claims 
with  the  consideration  which  they  deserve.  Opin- 
ions are  divided  as  to  the  extent  of  the  territory 
which  rightfully  belongs  to  Texas,  and  the  terms  pro- 
posed to  that  state  in  the  bill  before  us  form  a  proper 
basis  for  the  adjustment  of  that  important  dispute. 

So  far  from  being  ready  to  vote  at  this  time  to  re- 
ject the  bill,  I  intend  to  give  it  my  support,  if  I  can 
be  satisfied  that  the  territory  cut  off  from  Texas  will 
not  be  subjected  to  some  act  of  legislation  by  Con- 
gress hostile  to  the  interests  of  the  Southern  people ; 
and  I  have  already  assurances  that  no  such  act  will 
find  favor  in  either  House. 

The  bill  will  receive  my  support  upon  two  consid- 
erations. In  the  first  place,  it  will  promote  the  in- 
terests of  Texas ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  it  will  give 
peace  to  the  whole  country. 

As  to  the  interests  of  Texas,  they  are  comprehend- 
ed by  her  able  and  patriotic  senators.  The  bill  re- 
ceived their  support  when  it  was  before  the  Senate. 
I  am  willing  to  accept  their  action  as  the  exponent 
of  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  that  state  in  regard 
to  their  rights. 

The  parallel  of  36°  30'  north  latitude  is  fixed  upon 
as  the  northern  boundary  of  that  state,  and  that  line 
is  adhered  to  until  it  touches  the  103d  degree  of  lon- 
gitude ;  the  boundary  then  runs  south  upon  that  line 
until  it  intersects  the  32d  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
which  it  pursues  west  to  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte. 


BOUNDARY   OF   TEXAS    AND    NEW    MEXICO.  303 

This  boundary,  it  will  be  perceived,  follows  the  line 
of  36°  30'  until  it  approaches  the  country  settled  by 
a  Mexican  population,  when  it  diverges,  as  I  have 
described  it,  so  as  to  exclude  them. 

This  arrangement  is  a  wise  one ;  it  leaves  out  of 
the  limits  of  Texas  a  people  differing  in  origin,  relig- 
ion, opinions,  and  tastes  from  the  great  body  of  the 
people  of  that  state.  People  differing  so  widely, 
where  the  caste  is  so  marked,  never  could  constitute 
a  homogeneous  population,  and  Texas  is  far  better  off 
without  them  than  she  could  be  with  them.  The  ter- 
ritory embraced  within  the  limits  defined  in  the  bill 
for  that  state  is  very  large,  and  secures  to  her  every 
substantial  advantage  which  she  could  desire. 

The  ten  millions  of  dollars  will  enable  her  to  meet 
the  claims  against  her,  and  relieve  this  young  state 
from  the  pressure  of  a  debt  incurred  in  achieving  her 
independence. 

But,  sir,  if  it  be  advantageous  to  Texas  to  accept 
the  terms  proposed  in  the  bill,  it  is  still  more  impor- 
tant to  the  country  at  large  that  they  should  be 
adopted.  The  people  of  the  United  States  demand 
that  this  controversy  shall  be  settled,  and  they  will 
hail  with  the  highest  satisfaction  a  measure  which  re- 
stores to  the  country  the  peace  which  it  so  earnestly 
desires.  "What  do  they  regard  ten  millions  of  dollars 
in  comparison  with  the  relief  which  the  country  will 
experience  from  the  adjustment  of  a  controversy 
which  has  too  long  already  swept  it  like  a  tempest? 
Every  interest  in  the  country  has  suffered  from  its 
rage,  and  the  world  beholds  with  amazement  the 
American  Congress  overlooking  all  other  subjects, 


304    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

foreign  and  domestic,  and  engrossed  in  a  discussion 
which  threatens  to  destroy  the  very  existence  of  the 
government.  Sir,  it  is  time  to  bring  this  controversy 
to  a  conclusion.  I  desire  to  see  peace.  It  is  a  bless- 
ing above  all  price. 

It  is  objected  to  the  bill  before  us,  by  some  gentle- 
men from  the  Northern  States,  that  the  boundaries 
denned  in  it  cut  off  from  New  Mexico  a  part  of  its 
territory.  This  objection  has  not  the  least  founda- 
tion. I  have  already  shown  that  New  Mexico  is  not 
a  political  community,  with  limits  fixed  by  the  treaty. 
Even  if  it  were  to  be  maintained  as  such,  with  all 
the  territory  which  belonged  to  it  while  a  province 
of  Mexico,  I  can  satisfy  every  one  that  the  bounda- 
ries marked  out  for  Texas  in  the  bill  upon  your  table 
do  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  boundaries  of 
New  Mexico. 

The  truth  is,  the  limits  of  New  Mexico  are  not 
even  approached  by  the  line  fixed  on  as  the  western 
boundary  of  Texas,  before  its  intersection  with  the 
thirty-second  parallel  of  north  latitude,  and  it  touches 
those  limits  only  at  El  Paso.  I  now  present  to  the 
House  two  very  interesting  maps,  to  which  I  invite 
attention.  They  were  found  in  the  Palace  of  Mexico, 
among  the  official  papers  of  the  war  department  of 
that  republic,  by  an  American  officer  of  great  intelli- 
gence and  high  character,  when  our  army  occupied 
its  capital,  and  they  were  put  into  my  hands  by  him. 
One  is  a  French  map ;  the  other  seems  to  have  been 
prepared  according  to  law,  for  the  use  of  the  Mexican 
"War  Office,  and  exhibits  an  exact  delineation  of  the 
extent  of  each  department  of  Mexico.  The  first  is 


BOUNDARY   OF  TEXAS   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  305 

by  Brue,  dated  Paris,  1825 ;  the  other  was  prepared 
subsequent  to  a  decree  of  the  Mexican  government  of 
1836,  dividing  the  territory  of  the  republic  into  de- 
partments, which  are  named,  and  which  are  marked 
on  it  in  manuscript. 

Both  maps  show  that  the  province  of  New  Mexico 
was  of  limited  extent,  embracing  a  district  of  coun- 
try bordering  on  both  sides  of  the  Hio  Grande,  and 
not  even  approaching  the  103d  degree  of  longitude. 
It  will  be  observed  that  I  do  not  introduce  these 
maps  to  afford  any  evidence  of  the  extent  of  Tex- 
as; I  am  now  directing  my  argument  to  another 
point,  and  that  is,  that  the  lines  proposed  in  the 
Senate's  bill  for  the  boundaries  of  Texas  do  not  in 
the  slightest  degree  interfere  with  those  of  New 
Mexico.  Nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that;  it  is 
shown  not  only  by  the  maps  which  I  have  produced, 
but  by  all  those  which  can  be  produced,  of  any  au- 
thenticity, and  by  all  the  descriptions  which  have 
been  given  to  the  world  of  the  geography  of  that 
district  of  country. 

Gentlemen,  then,  may  dismiss  all  anxiety  as  to  the 
boundaries  of  New  Mexico,  about  which  so  much  so- 
licitude is  expressed ;  they  are  not  disturbed  by  the 
limits  assigned  to  Texas  in  the  bill  which  has  been 
sent  to  us  from  the  Senate.  All  objections  to  the 
boundaries  of  that  state  proposed  in  the  bill  give  way 
upon  investigation.  The  country  claimed  for  New 
Mexico  is  open  Indian  territory,  and  the  limits  of 
that  province  will  be  largely  extended  if  they  are 
made  to  embrace  all  that  is  not  included  within  the 
boundaries  of  Texas. 

U 


306    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

The  considerations  in  favor  of  the  bill  are  over- 
whelming. It  appeals  to  the  highest  motives  which 
can  act  upon  the  House — to  its  generosity,  its  justice, 
its  patriotism.  No  selfish  considerations ;  no  sec-f 
tional  animosity;  no  narrow  view  of  policy;  no  ap- 
prehension of  personal  risk  should,  for  a  single  mo- 
ment, be  allowed  to  hinder  its  passage.  It  will,  I  am 
confident,  find  a  powerful  support  from  the  great 
body  of  the  American  people.  They  are  always 
loyal  to  the  country,  and  they  will  hail  with  the  en- 
thusiasm of  true  patriotism  the  success  of  a  measure 
which  restores  peace  to  thirty  kindred  states. 

But,  sir,  this  is  not  the  only  duty  which  we  have 
to  perform.  We  have  already  too  long  neglected  to 
establish  governments  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  ter- 
ritories ceded  to  us  by  Mexico.  The  government  in 
New  Mexico,  if  it  may  be  called  a  government,  ought 
not  to  have  been  suffered  to  endure  for  a  single  month 
after  the  meeting  of  Congress.  It  is  a  reproach  to 
us ;  it  is  a  monstrous  anomaly  in  our  political  sys- 
tem. It  resembles  the  Homan  proconsular  govern- 
ments, by  which  that  imperial  power  held  its  con- 
quered provinces  in  subjection.  Absolute  power  is 
confided  to  the  hands  of  a  military  governor.  What 
security  do  the  inhabitants  enjoy  from  oppression  as 
hard  and  as  cruel  as  that  which  was  inflicted  upon 
the  people  of  Sicily  by  Verres,  when  he  was  prsetor 
of  that  province  ?  Before  an  appeal  could  be  taken 
to  our  government,  the  grossest  wrongs  might  be  en- 
dured by  the  inhabitants  of  that  distant  district  of 
country,  who  have  been  transferred  to  our  jurisdic- 
tion by  a  solemn  treaty,  and  by  our  own  citizens  who 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     307 

are  seeking  homes  there.  The  Mexicans  who  con- 
tinue to  reside  there  in  the  hope  of  becoming  Amer- 
ican citizens  have  the  strongest  claim  to  our  protec- 
tion. Torn  from  their  own  country  by  the  fortune 
of  war ;  subjected  for  a  long  time  to  a  strict  military 
government;  transferred  at  last  to  the  nation  with 
which  they  had  been  at  war,  they  are  entitled  to  the 
rights  which  the  treaty  was  supposed  to  secure  to 
them.  They  are  entitled  to  something  beyond  the 
mere  privilege  to  remain  upon  the  soil:  they  are  to 
be  maintained  and  protected  in  the  free  enjoyment  of 
their  liberty  and  property,  and  in  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  without  restriction;  and  this,  too,  be- 
fore they  are  admitted  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Suppose  these  rights  are  violated,  where  are  they 
to  look  for  redress  ?  Troops  stationed  at  Santa  Fe 
to  repel  attacks  from  Indians  do  not,  in  my  judgment, 
acquit  us  of  our  solemn  obligation.  It  is  impera- 
tive upon  us ;  let  us  do  our  duty.  It  has  been  too 
long  neglected.  The  delay,  and  the  causes  of  the  de- 
lay, alike  reproach  us.  Let  us  establish  territorial 
governments  for  the  people  of  New  Mexico  and 
Utah.  These  governments  should  not  only  be  free 
from  any  restriction  upon  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  but  they  should  secure  to  the  in- 
habitants the  ample  protection  of  American  law. 
An  American  Congress  can  not  withhold  that.  It 
is  due  to  the  Mexicans  who  are  brought  under  our 
jurisdiction,  and  to  our  citizens  residing  there,  that 
we  should  confer  upon  them  the  blessings  of  good 
government.  If  the  system  of  American  law  be  bet- 


308    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

ter  than  that  of  Mexican  law,  they  are  entitled  to  its 
benefits.  Is  there  nothing  in  the  right  of  trial  by 
jury?  Is  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  of  no  value?  Is 
not  the  common  law  to  be  prized,  with  its  innumer- 
able privileges  ?  These — all  these  the  inhabitants  of 
our  Territories  should  enjoy;  and  especially  should 
they  be  secured  to  our  citizens,  hardy  and  enterpris- 
ing men,  who  turn  their  backs  upon  their  native  coun- 
try and  take  up  their  abode  in  the  wilderness,  which 
they  will  presently  convert  into  fields  teeming  with 
the  varied  fruits  of  industry.  Every  obstruction 
ought  to  be  removed  out  of  the  way  of  our  people 
who  desire  to  emigrate  to  our  Territories.  The 
American  citizen  is  entitled  to  the  protection  of  his 
government  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  life,  his  liberty, 
and  his  property,  wherever  he  fixes  his  residence,  if 
the  soil  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  flag  of  the 
United  States.  I  do  not  give  my  assent  to  the  doc- 
trine of  non-intervention.  The  power  to  govern  the 
Territories  belongs  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  it  must  be  employed  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people  of  all  the  states.  The  power  may  be  right- 
fully employed  to  remove  obstructions  out  of  the  way 
of  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  of  every  description 
in  the  Territories,  but  it  can  not  be  employed  to  put 
restrictions  upon  the  enjoyment  of  those  rights. 

The  one  act  would  be  an  exercise  of  its  legitimate 
functions,  the  other  would  be  an  abuse  of  them. 
The  governments  organized  for  the  territories  ac- 
quired from  Mexico  should  be  established  upon  these 
principles.  The  blessings  of  good  government  would 
be  secured  to  the  inhabitants  of  those  remote  posses- 


BOUNDARY  OP  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.    309 

sions,  and  harmony  would  be  restored  to  the  whole 
country.  The  time  is  come  to  look  out  upon  the 
whole  sweep  of  the  horizon  which  encircles  our  broad 
land,  with  a  firm  purpose  to  do  our  duty  to  the  peo- 
ple of  every  part  of  it.  We  must  rise  to  a  noble 
view  of  our  duties  as  American  representatives,  and 
bring  our  minds  to  a  full  survey  of  the  interests  of 
the  great  country  which  Providence  has  intrusted  to 
our  legislation.  The  troubles  which  surround  us  have 
resulted  from  an  attempt  to  turn  the  government  of 
the  United  States  from  the  true  sphere  of  its  action. 
Established  by  the  people  of  the  States  for  their  com- 
mon benefit,  with  great  but  limited  powers,  some 
have  sought  to  control  it  for  selfish  purposes — to 
bring  it  to  bear  in  favor  of  a  section  or  against  a  sec- 
tion. Its  balance  has  been  disturbed.  It  is  distrust- 
ed by  the  people  of  the  States  against  which  its  pow- 
er is  directed,  and  their  affections,  which  clung  to  it 
with  ardor,  begin  to  suffer  an  alienation,  which  is  as 
natural  as  it  is  likely  to  be  fatal,  unless  it  be  arrest- 
ed. The  government  must  regain  their  confidence  by 
poising  itself  upon  the  basis  of  the  Constitution,  and 
by  giving  to  the  country  an  administration  national 
in  its  aim  and  spirit.  Our  political  system  is  a  com- 
plex one.  It  blends  the  elements  of  popular  power 
with  the  vigor  of  a  stable  government.  In  the  states 
of  Greece  the  principle  was,  for  the  first  time,  recog- 
nized, that  the  government  was  established  for  the 
good  of  the  community.  In  the  language  of  a  cele- 
brated English  writer  on  Greece,  "From  the  earliest 
times  it  was  not  the  monarch,  but  the  STATE,  that 
called  forth  the  virtue  of  devotion  and  inspired  the 
enthusiasm  of  loyalty.1'  • 


310     BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

Asia  had  produced  only  despotisms,  not  relieved 
by  a  single  provision  for  the  protection  of  human  lib- 
erty. The  power  of  the  monarch  was  supported  at 
the  expense  of  popular  rights.  The  two  systems  met 
in  conflict  at  Salamis  and  at  Plataea.  The  triumph  of 
Greece  was  complete,  and  the  struggle  of  opinion  on 
the  soil  of  Europe  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  mankind 
has  been  maintained  ever  since.  Reverses  have  never 
crushed  it.  The  weight  of  the  most  powerful  throne 
has  never  completely  overwhelmed  it.  It  has  assert- 
ed its  ever-springing  vigor,  and  is  to-day  bringing  ev- 
ery government  beneath  the  heavens  under  its  sway. 
Our  system  is  an  improvement  upon  those  which  took 
their  rise  in  Greece.  It  is  no  longer  the  state  whose 
glory  is  to  be  enhanced  by  the  sacrifice  of  individual 
rights,  but  it  is  the  happiness  of  the  people  who  com- 
pose the  state  which  is  to  be  secured.  The  splendor 
or  power  of  the  government  can  not  be  advanced  at 
the  expense  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen.  The  repre- 
sentative principle  —  a  principle  which  belongs  to 
modern  systems — secures  the  rights  of  the  individual 
and  the  strength  of  the  state.  Can  this  system  be 
maintained  ?  It  can  ;  it  will  be ;  it  must  be.  With 
all  its  faults — guided,  as  it  sometimes  is,  by  unwise 
counsels — it  is  the  noblest  political  structure  which 
the  world  ever  saw,  and  secures  more  practical  liberty 
to  mankind  than  every  other  existing  government. 
Let  it  be  administered  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was 
conceived,  and  it  will  stand  through  the  expanding 
cycles  of  the  future.  I  know,  sir,  that  some  in  our 
own  country  pronounce  it  a  failure,  and  it  may  be 
that  some  desire  to  overthrow  it.  Its  complex  char- 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.    311 

acter,  blending  the  powers  of  a  general  government 
with  those  of  the  several  states,  exposes  it  to  dangers 
from  its  own  action.  The  dangers  result  from  an  oc- 
casional tendency  to  centralization — from  an  assump- 
tion of  powers  by  the  general  government  not  grant- 
ed in  the  Constitution. 

This  will  always  give  rise  to  dissatisfaction  in  the 
States,  whose  interest  it  is  to  resist  any  encroachments 
upon  their  rights. 

Chief-justice  Marshall  once  remarked  of  the  court 
over  which  he  presided,  "This  court  never  leans." 
Those  who  are  intrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  government  should  interpret  its  grant  of  powers 
in  the  same  spirit,  neither  enlarging  nor  limiting 
them ;  and  if  this  course  be  adhered  to,  the  Union  of 
these  states  will  outlive  the  predictions  of  its  timid 
friends  and  the  impotent  struggles  of  its  enemies. 

The  extent  of  our  domain  can  not  impair  its 
strength.  The  improvements  of  modern  civilization 
will  enable  us  to  plant  our  self-sustaining  institutions 
as  firmly  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  as  they  are 
seated  upon  those  of  the  Atlantic. 

If  there  be  those  in  any  part  of  our  wide-spread 
limits,  north  or  south,  who  are  striving  to  divide  this 
growing  empire — who  seek  to  magnify  rather  than  to 
remove  the  causes  of  disagreement — who  utter  un- 
ceasing complaints  against  the  government  for  the 
abuse  of  its  powers,  and  yet  reject  all  measures  of  re- 
dress, I  have  no  sympathy  with  them.  The  respon- 
sibility of  perpetuating  the  existence  of  the  govern- 
ment rests  mainly  on  the  North.  It  holds  the  des- 
tiny of  the  country  in  its  hands.  I  appeal  to  gentle- 


312    BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

men  from  that  section  of  the  Union  to  come  up  at 
this  critical  hour,  when  the  eyes  of  the  nation  are 
turned  upon  us  with  mingled  anxiety  and  hope,  and 
adjust  the  unhappy  controversy  which  has  so  long 
disturbed  our  councils. 

The  crusade  which  has  been  carried  on  against  the 
institutions  of  the  South  must  be  abandoned.  If  per- 
sisted in,  it  will  precipitate  us  into  struggles  which 
may  end  in  the  destruction  of  the  republic. 

The  nobler  feelings  which  are  sometimes  appealed 
to  in  the  fierce  warfare  directed  against  us  will  only 
betray  a  misguided  people  into  acts  of  hostility,  which 
will  involve  us  all  in  common  ruin.  Those  who  fol- 
low you  will  then  hold  you  responsible  for  calamities 
which  can  no  longer  be  averted.  Then  may  they  who 
looked  to  you  for  counsel — to  you,  who  undertook  the 
task  of  leading  them  in  the  perilous  enterprise  upon 
which  they  were  entering — to  you,  placed  where  you 
could  see  all  the  wrong  and  all  the  danger — reproach 
you  in  the  language  of  the  great  dramatist : 

"  Hadst  thou  but  shook  thy  head,  or  made  a  pause, 
When  I  spake  darkly  what  I  purposed, 
Or  turned  an  eye  of  doubt  upon  my  face." 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  never  permitted  myself  to  look 
to  a  destruction  of  the  government  as  a  remedy  for 
existing  evils.  I  have  not  sought  to  explore  the  dark 
and  perilous  future  which  lies  beyond  the  hour  of  sep- 
aration between  these  states,  bound  together  by  so 
many  ties.  I  have  a  sincere  desire  to  preserve  the 
Union.  Its  disruption  would  involve  the  North  and 
the  South  in  common  ruin.  Rival  states,  with  stand- 
ing armies,  and  fortresses  bristling  with  guns  erected 


BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO.    313 

upon  streams  now  flowing  in  peace  between  kindred 
states ;  conflicting  interests ;  heavy  commercial  regu- 
lations fettering  trade  now  untrammeled — all  this 
would  replace  the  wide  scene  of  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness which  now  salutes  the  eye  as  it  surveys  the 
whole  extent  of  our  country. 

Nor  would  this  be  all :  rival  states  would  soon  be- 
come belligerent  states,  and  armies  would  be  employ- 
ed to  decide  the  supremacy  between  them.  The  flag 
that  floats  to-day  over  every  part  of  our  wide  domain, 
from  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  full  view  of 
the  British  possessions,  to  the  coast  of  the  Pacific, 
where  it  meets  the  eye  of  the  navigator  returning 
from  Asia,  and  upon  our  ships,  which  bear  it  upon 
all  the  waters  of  the  earth,  is  known  and  honored  as 
the  ensign  of  a  great  and  powerful  republic ;  it  is' as- 
sociated with  all  the  glories  of  our  past  history ;  its 
folds  glitter  at  this  moment  before  the  eyes  of  man- 
kind as  the  sign  of  hope  and  of  universal  freedom ; 
and  I  trust  that  it  will  forever  fly  with  undiminished 
splendor  above  free,  independent,  and  kindred  states, 
not  divided  into  petty  principalities  or  feeble  leagues, 
but  united,  as  they  now  are,  under  a  government  the 
mightiest,  the  freest,  and  the  happiest  upon  which 
the  sun  looks  down. 

If  the  glorious  system  under  which  we  live  goes 
down,  it  leaves  the  world  not  a  single  example  of  a 
free  and  great  nation.  The  noblest,  the  grandest,  the 
most  successful  of  all  human  experiments  in  behalf 
of  constitutional  liberty  will  have  failed,  and  the 
world  can  not  hope  to  reconstruct  a  stable,  powerful, 
and  enduring  political  system  for  the  protection  of 


314     BOUNDARY  OF  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

popular  rights.  Put  out  the  light  which  streams 
from  our  institutions  upon  the  world,  and  it  is  extin- 
guished forever. 

"  I  know  not  where  is  that  Promethean  heat 
That  can  thy  light  relume." 


POLICY  OF  THE   GOVEENMENT  TO- 
WAED  THE  INDIANS. 

A    SPEECH  DELIVERED   IN  THE   HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  FEBRUARY  20th,  1851. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN, — While  I  wish  to  see  economy  in 
the  use  of  public  money  in  every  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, I  shall  vote  for  the  largest  sum  which  it  is  pro- 
posed to  assert  in  this  bill  as  an  appropriation  for 
the  payment  of  Indian  agents. 

We  must  either  pay  agents  to  look  after  the  In- 
dians, or  we  must  pay  troops  to  fight  them :  our  al- 
ternative is  conciliation  or  war ;  and  whether  we  re- 
gard economy  or  humanity,  we  can  not  for  a  moment 
hesitate  which  policy  to  adopt. 

It  is  far  cheaper — leaving  out  of  view  nobler  con- 
siderations— to  deal  in  a  magnanimous  and  liberal 
spirit  with  these  wild  tribes  than  it  would  be  to  make 
war  upon  them.  We  must  make  them  respect  us ; 
they  must  be  taught  to  expect  justice  from  us,  and 
to  confide  in  our  good  disposition  toward  them. 

Whenever  you  succeed  in  impressing  them  with  a 
sense  of  your  justice  and  your  power ;  whenever  they 
can  be  made  to  comprehend  that  you  intend  to  deal 
honestly  with  them,  and  learn  that,  if  they  violate  the 
treaties  which  they  have  made  with  you,  your  troops 
are  able  to  beat  them,  you  will  have  no  further  trouble 
with  them. 

At  all  times  peace  is  to  be  preferred  to  war,  if  the 


316     POLICY   OF   GOVERNMENT  TOWARD   THE   INDIANS. 

honor  and  the  rights  of  the  country  can  be  maintain- 
ed without  a  resort  to  arms ;  but  especially  ought  we 
to  pursue  a  pacific  policy  toward  the  feebler  tribes 
who  are  now  dependent  upon  our  bounty. 

Their  condition  makes  a  powerful  appeal  to  our 
humanity.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  they  have  been 
demoralized  by  their  intercourse  with  us ;  they  have 
lost  all  their  former  heroic  qualities,  and  have  learn- 
ed only  the  vices  of  the  white  race. 

It  is  far  wiser,  sir,  by  a  liberal  appropriation  to  se- 
cure the  services  of  competent  and  trustworthy  agents, 
who  will  conciliate  the  Indians,  and  teach  them  to 
submit  to  your  government,  than  it  would  be  to  ap- 
propriate a  less  sum,  and  send  worthless  men  to  deal 
with  them — men  who  will  serve  only  to  demoralize 
them  still  more,  and  to  spread  distrust  among  the 
tribes  whom  we  are  bound  by  every  consideration  to 
cherish  and  protect. 

I  can  not  view  the  history  of  that  unfortunate  peo- 
ple without  the  profoundest  regret.  Compare  their 
condition  to-day  with  their  happy  and  prosperous 
state  when  they  first  welcomed  the  white  race  to  their 
shores.  Powerful,  warlike,  and  brave,  they  dwelt  in 
native  majesty  in  their  forest  homes,  and  they  held 
all  these  broad  lands  which  we  now  claim  as  our 
heritage.  They  have  retreated  before  our  advancing 
civilization ;  they  have  not  a  single  resting-place  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Mississippi — all  that 
wide  domain  is  lost  to  them ;  they  are  almost  with- 
out a  home ;  they  can  no  longer  follow  the  setting 
sun  in  his  course,  for  powerful  states  are  growing  up 
on  the  Pacific  shore ;  their  native  dignity  has  disap- 


POLICY   OF    GOVERNMENT   TOWARD   THE    INDIANS.      317 

peared;  their  numerous  and  warlike  tribes  have 
dwindled  away;  their  numbers  are  diminishing  so 
rapidly  that  it  can  not  be  doubted  the  race  will  be- 
come extinct ;  and  yet  they  retain  that  fierce  spirit 
which  impels  them  to  resent  the  wrongs  inflicted 
upon  them  by  their  oppressors. 

Is  it  not  far  nobler,  sir — is  it  not  far  wiser,  to  deal 
generously  with  such  a  people,  than  to  attempt,  by  a 
false  economy,  to  lessen  the  appropriations  for  their 
benefit?  Expend  your  money  freely  upon  them — 
lavish  it  rather  than  stint  it. 

Pay  your  Indian  agents  well;  secure  the  confi- 
dence of  these  unfortunate  tribes,  and  you  will  find 
it,  in  the  end,  true  economy. 

I  never  wish  to  see  a  gun  turned  against  the  In- 
dian hereafter,  or  a  weapon  raised  to  strike  the  fee- 
ble race ;  infinitely  would  I  prefer  to  adopt  the  just 
and  magnanimous  policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  cher- 
ish the  descendants  of  the  aborigines  whom  you  have 
dispossessed  of  their  homes.  It  is  even  now  almost 
too  late  to  atone  for  the  wrongs  and  injuries  which 
we  have  inflicted  upon  them  ;  but,  whatever  we  can 
do  to  brighten  their  future ;  whatever  we  can  do  to 
reclaim  them  from  their  degradation ;  whatever  we 
can  do  to  make  them  acquainted  with  a  true  civiliza- 
tion, and  to  make  them  feel  the  elevating  influences 
of  a  genuine  Christianity,  which  in  its  unselfishness 
seeks  only  to  lift  up,  to  cheer,  and  to  guide ;  what- 
ever we  can  do  to  compensate  for  the  past,  let  us  do 
freely. 

Such,  sir,  are  my  views  of  the  policy  proper  to  be 
pursued  toward  the  Indian  tribes.  I  shall  vote  for 


318     POLICY   OF   GOVERNMENT   TOWARD   THE   INDIANS. 

the  largest  appropriations  which  the  bill  proposes. 
I  trust  that  the  committee  will  agree  with  me,  and 
that  the  action  of  the  government  in  its  dealings  with 
the  Indian  tribes  will  hereafter  exhibit  a  policy  which 
blends  economy  with  humanity,  and  true  statesman- 
ship with  exalted  Christian  sentiment. 


VINDICATION  OF  ME.  WEBSTER 

REMARKS  MADE  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  FEBRUARY  25th,  1851. 

I  THINK  it  must  be  clear  to  all,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
this  debate  has  taken  a  most  unfortunate  turn.  Who 
could  have  imagined  that  in  a  debate  upon  a  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  payment  of  the  indemnity  due  to  Mex- 
ico, a  heated  and  violent  speech  would  be  uttered 
against  the  Secretary  of  State  ? 

It  will  be  admitted  by  the  most  malignant  assail- 
ants of  that  eminent  man  that  he  has  not  sought  to 
incur  the  responsibilities  or  to  perform  the  duties 
which  we  are  about  to  put  upon  him.  It  is  not  by 
his  own  act  that  he  undertakes  the  task  of  conducting 
a  negotiation  for  the  payment  of  a  debt  which  this 
nation  owes.  That  duty  has  devolved  upon  him  by 
law ;  and  with  that  apparent  to  us  all,  it  must  occur 
to  every  man  of  ordinary  charity  or  of  ordinary  fair- 
ness, that  at  a  moment  when  we  are  debating  a  meas- 
ure of  public  policy  like  this,  it  is  a  most  ungenerous 
turn  to  give  the  discussion  to  make  it  personal  to  the 
Secretary  of  State.  Like  the  gentleman  who  has  just 
taken  his  seat  (Mr.  Ashmun),  and  who  comes  from 
Massachusetts,  the  home  of  the  great  statesman,  I 
shall  content  myself  with  an  expression  of  my  indig- 
nant sense  of  the  wrong  which  has  been  done  to  us 
all  by  the  colleague  of  that  gentleman  (Mr.  Allen),  in 


320  VINDICATION    OF   MR.  WEBSTER. 

his  speech  this  evening,  without  attempting  an  elab- 
orate defense  of  Mr.  Webster. 

The  charge  recoils  from  the  great  mark  against 
which  it  is  hurled  like  a  javelin  from  the  broad  shield 
of  Achilles. 

I  know  nothing  of  the  circumstances  which  have 
been  referred  to,  but  I  am  very  sure  that  every  gen- 
tleman of  every  party  will  agree  with  me  in  thinking 
that  public  reputation  is  public  property;  that  the 
fame  of  a  great  man  is  not  to  be  thrown  away  idly ; 
that  a  good  name  is  to  be  valued  above  all  price ;  and 
that  extraordinary,  groundless,  and  malignant  charges 
are  not  to  be  thrown  out  in  a  body  like  this,  whose 
proceedings  are  published  to  the  whole  world,  with- 
out being  replied  to  with  something  like  severity,  if 
not  with  indignation. 

A  splendid  reputation,  that  honors  the  country, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  and  throws  its  lustre  about  the 
American  name,  is  prized  by  me  beyond  all  price ; 
and  a  great  life,  whose  golden  orb  is  already  setting 
beneath  the  horizon  of  time,  is  so  much  venerated  by 
me,  that  I  can  not  consent  to  see  a  single  speck  placed 
upon  it  by  any  malignant  hand. 

Indeed,  sir,  if  I  could,  I  would  send  down  to  pos- 
terity the  fame  of  every  great  American  statesman  of 
every  party,  without  a  single  spot  to  stain  it  or  a  sin- 
gle shadow  to  dim  it. 

There  is  not  a  man  living  among  us,  I  care  not  how 
fierce  the  rivalry  of  party  may  have  been,  or  how 
heated  the  contests  into  which  we  have  been  plunged 
— there  is  not  an  illustrious  living  American  whose 
good  name  I  do  not  value,  and  I  should  rejoice  to 


VINDICATION    OF   MR.    WEBSTER.  321 

know  that  every  one  of  them  would  preserve  through- 
out his  life  an  untarnished  fame,  and  sleep  at  the 
close  of  his  career  in  an  honored  grave.  And  I  ven- 
ture to  say,  sir,  that  there  is  not  a  gentleman  present 
this  evening  who  has  not  listened  with  impatience  to 
the  charges  which  have  been  so  unnecessarily,  so  wan- 
tonly, and,  I  believe  I  may  say,  so  wickedly  uttered 
against  one  of  our  most  illustrious  men. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  must  be  allowed  to  say  that  much 
of  the  hostility  which  we  have  witnessed  this  evening 
is  due  to  the  fact  that,  in  the  contest  which  has  just 
gone  by,  when  a  cloud  hung  over  this  country  which 
threw  its  portentous  shadow  over  the  whole  heavens, 
so  that  good  men  began  to  tremble  for  the  fate  of  the 
government,  and  bad  men  began  to  hope  that  it  would 
be  overthrown — it  was  because  at  that  moment  this 
great  man  stood  up  for  his  country,  and  denounced 
the  factions  that  would  destroy  it,  that  this  fierce  hos- 
tility is  exhibited.  It  is  because  he  took  upon  him 
the  great  task  of  resisting  the  legions  which  were 
bearing  down  against  the  rights  of  the  South,  bring- 
ing all  the  energy  and  strength  of  his  intellect  into 
the  service  of  his  country,  and  holding  up  the  Con- 
stitution as  a  shield  for  the  protection  of  our  rights, 
that  he  has  been  so  grossly  and  wantonly  assailed. 

I  do  not  doubt,  sir,  that  all  this  hostility  exhibited 
by  the  Free-Soil  faction  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
great  statesman  who  is  the  object  of  it  threw  himself, 
at  that  momentous  crisis  in  our  history,  in  the  way 
of  their  destructive  schemes,  and  contributed  so  large- 
ly toward  effecting  that  pacification  which  the  coun- 
try has  hailed  with  so  much  satisfaction.  Mr.  Web- 

X 


322  VINDICATION    OF    MR.   WEBSTER. 

ster  put  every  thing  at  stake  for  the  country,  and, 
notwithstanding  attacks  of  this  kind,  his  fame,  which 
was  resplendent  before,  will  go  down  to  posterity 
with  still  higher  lustre  than  it  could  have  worn  but 
for  the  courage  which  he  displayed  on  that  occasion. 
He  stands  out  before  the  eyes  of  mankind  in  a  far 
grander  position  than  he  would  have  occupied  had 
he  not  taken  that  bold  stand,  with  so  much  generos- 
ity and  with  so  much  self-sacrificing  patriotism  in 
behalf  of  the  rights  of  the  Southern  people.  For 
one,  as  an  American,  I  thank  him  for  his  courage ; 
and,  as  a  Southern  man,  I  am  grateful  to  him  for  his 
magnanimity. 

His  name  will  be  recorded  upon  the  brightest 
pages  of  the  history  of  our  times,  in  the  noblest 
terms.  Massachusetts  may  repudiate  him ;  I  do 
not  believe  she  will.  Massachusetts  will  be  true  to 
her  own  fame,  and  will  stand  by  her  great  son ;  but 
if  she  were  to  repudiate  him,  the  nation  would  take 
him  up.  He  is  in  no  danger;  he  stands  stronger  to- 
day in  the  affections  of  his  countrymen  than  he  ever 
stood  before.  Such  shafts  as  have  been  hurled  at 
him  can  not  reach  him. 

Among  the  first  acts  of  my  public  life  in  this  hall 
was  a  defense  of  Mr.  Webster  from  charges  brought 
against  him  by  a  distinguished  gentleman  from  Penn- 
sylvania, who,  I  was  confident,  misapprehended  the 
facts  of  which  he  spoke.  I  then  said  that,  having 
but  a  few  months  before  returned  from  Europe,  where 
I  held  a  diplomatic  appointment  which  brought  me 
into  official  relations  with  Mr.  Webster,  and  gave  me 
the  opportunity  of  learning  the  sentiments  of  the  pub- 


VINDICATION    OF   ME.    WEBSTER.  323 

lie  men  of  Europe  respecting  him,  I  could  unhesita- 
tingly declare  that  he  had  exhibited  the  utmost  solic- 
itude for  the  welfare  and  the  honor  of  his  country; 
that  his  great  fame  filled  every  American  citizen  with 
pride ;  and  that  in  the  glorious  constellation  of  illus- 
trious names  adorning  the  republic,  there  was  not 
one  which  shone  with  greater  splendor  than  that  of 
DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

My  service  in  this  House  is  about  to  close.  I  shall 
retire  from  it  voluntarily,  and  I  count  it  a  piece  of 
good  fortune  that  one  of  my  last  acts  here  is  the  vin- 
dication of  that  great  statesman.  I  have  had  but 
one  opinion  of  him  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
He  rises  in  our  midst  like  some  tall  cliff;  mists  and 
shadows  settle  at  his  feet,  but  eternal  sunshine  gilds 
his  noble  brow.  The  heavens  are  now  serene — they 
are  crowded  and  adorned  with  constellations ;  but 
every  one  who  looks  back  to  the  period  of  which  I 
have  spoken  will  remember  that  they  were  overcast 
with  clouds;  the  first  star  that  broke  the  darkness 
and  cheered  the  country,  then  full  of  anxiety,  was 
DANIEL  WEBSTER.  Since  then,  others  have  appeared, 
but  he  will  ever  wear  the  great  honor  of  emerging 
first,  with  all  his  splendor,  from  the  gloom  which 
overshadowed  us. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  felt  that  it  was  due  to  the 
personal  and  political  relations  which  I  bear  to  that 
eminent  man  that  I  should  make  this  public  declara- 
tion of  my  confidence  in  him. 

I  believe  that  he  is  upright ;  so  far  as  the  public 
counsels  of  his  country  can  bear  witness  to  his  course, 
it  has  been  above  suspicion ;  every  act  shows  that  he 


324  VINDICATION    OF   MR.    WEBSTER. 

has  lived  for  his  country.  I  believe  that  he  has  no 
higher  aspiration  than  that  which  he  has  so  nobly 
and  eloquently  expressed  in  the  conclusion  of  one  of 
his  own  great  speeches,  that  the  last  feeble  and  lin- 
gering glance  of  his  eyes  might,  when  for  the  last  time 
they  saw  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  behold  him  shining 
upon  states  still  united  and  prosperous,  and  the  gor- 
geous ensign  of  the  republic  "  still  full  high  advanced, 
its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  original  lus- 
tre, not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  not  a  single  star 
obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  in- 
terrogatory as,  What  is  all  this  worth?  nor  those 
other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty  first  and 
Union  afterward,  but  every  where  spread  all  over 
in  characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample 
folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land, 
and  in  every  wind  under  the  whole  heaven,  that  other 
sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American  heart,  Liberty 
and  Union ;  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable." 


ADDBESS  TO  CONSTITUENTS. 

A  PAPER  ADDRESSED  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  SECOND  CONGRESSIONAL 
DISTRICT  OF  ALABAMA,  DECLINING  A  RE-ELECTION  TO  CONGRESS,  DE- 
CEMBER 3d,  1850. 

BEFORE  entering  upon  the  engrossing  duties  of  the 
session  of  Congress  which  has  just  opened,  I  wish  to 
execute  a  purpose  which  was  formed  long  since,  and 
to  which  I  still  adhere — that  is,  to  decline  a  re-elec- 
tion to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Some  of  my 
friends  were  made  acquainted  with  this  purpose  more 
than  a  twelvemonth  ago,  but,  as  I  continue  to  receive 
letters  from  gentlemen  residing  in  different  parts  of 
the  district  urging  me  to  consent  to  be  a  candidate 
once  more,  I  think  it  best  to  announce  my  determina- 
tion to  retire  in  a  public  and  formal  manner. 

At  the  expiration  of  my  present  term  I  shall  have 
been  engaged  in  your  service  for  six  successive  years. 
While  I  have  fully  appreciated  the  honor  of  repre- 
senting you  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  I 
have  at  all  times  been  sensible  of  the  great  duties 
which  the  trust  devolved  upon  me.  I  have  encoun- 
tered opposition,  and  my  course  has  been  freely  can- 
vassed, but  I  believe  that  I  have  enjoyed  a  large 
share  of  your  confidence.  I  have  endeavored  through- 
out my  public  life  to  do  my  duty  faithfully.  I  have 
been,  at  every  step  of  my  progress,  animated  with  the 
hope  of  advancing  your  interests,  and  of  contributing 
somewhat  to  the  prosperity  and  the  glory  of  the 
whole  country.  This  consciousness  is  above  all  price. 


326  ADDRESS    TO    CONSTITUENTS. 

I  shall  cherish  it  through  life.  It  would  sustain  me 
even  in  the  face  of  your  frowns,  and  under  the  bur- 
den of  your  censure.  I  have,  however,  the  high  sat- 
isfaction of  believing  that  my  course  meets  the  appro- 
bation of  a  very  large  majority  of  those  who  have  re- 
peatedly chosen  me  to  represent  them. 

The  period  through  which  the  country  has  passed 
since  I  entered  Congress  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of 
the  most  eventful  in  our  history.  Within  that  time, 
Texas  has  been  annexed  to  the  United  States ;  we  have 
carried  on  and  brought  to  a  close  a  brilliant  war ;  we 
have  acquired  from  Mexico,  by  treaty,  vast  posses- 
sions which  have  seated  our  power  and  our  institu- 
tions on  the  Pacific,  so  that  we  now  stretch  an  undis- 
puted empire  over  a  territory  bounded  by  the  two 
great  oceans  of  the  world;  we  have  just  passed  through 
a  storm  which  swept  the  country  with  unprecedented 
fury,  and  which  has  tried  the  strength  of  our  polit- 
ical system.  The  stately  fabric  still  stands,  and  is,  I 
hope,  destined  to  stand,  when  the  history  of  the  strug- 
gle through  which  we  have  come  will  be  referred  to 
only  as  an  illustration  of  the  power  of  a  confederate 
republic  to  exist  in  the  midst  of  great  popular  com- 
motions. The  great  questions  of  the  time  seem  now 
to  be  settled ;  the  receding  waves  and  the  brighten- 
ing horizon  promise  a  season  of  repose.  We  are  at 
peace  with  all  the  world,  and  we  have  at  the  head  of 
the  government  an  administration  which  announces 
for  its  guidance  principles  so  just,  so  wise,  and,  I  may 
say,  so  noble,  that  we  may  hope  to  escape  collision 
with  foreign  powers,  while  the  rights  and  the  honor 
of  our  country  are  vigorously  maintained  and  vindi- 


ADDRESS   TO   CONSTITUENTS.  327 

cated.  The  administration,  too,  is  pledged  to  the 
support  of  the  adjustment  of  domestic  troubles  which 
Congress  so  lately  effected,  after  the  longest  and  most 
important  session  it  ever  held. 

Having  borne  my  part  in  these  important  events, 
I  feel  that  I  may  retire  from  the  place  to  which  you 
have  repeatedly  elevated  me  without  exposing  myself 
to  the  charge  of  indifference  to  your  interests,  or  a 
disposition  to  shrink  from  any  responsibility  which  I 
ought  to  encounter. 

The  events  which  have  transpired  within  the  last 
twelve  months,  so  far  from  impairing  the  strength  of 
our  political  system,  have  really  served  to  demon- 
strate it.  There  is,  to-day,  a  growing  conviction  in 
the  mind  of  the  whole  nation,  that  the  Constitution 
must  be  adhered  to  in  its  pristine  spirit,  and  that, 
while  it  is  adhered  to,  the  republic  will  endure.  A 
storm  which  sweeps  the  ocean  and  drives  the  vessel 
before  its  fury  makes  the  mariner  look  more  closely 
to  his  means  of  safety,  and  a  political  convulsion 
which  threatens  to  overthrow  the  government  brings 
about  a  recurrence  to  the  great  elementary  principles 
upon  which  the  fabric  rests.  States  spread  over  a 
continent,  with  every  variety  of  soil  and  climate,  with 
diverse  interests,  rapidly  advancing  in  wealth,  pow- 
er, and  population,  and  held  together  by  a  general 
government  of  great  but  limited  powers,  must  feel 
that  their  harmonious  progress  can  be  secured  only 
by  a  faithful  adherence  to  the  Constitution.  Some 
who  witness  our  unprecedented  growth  express  the 
apprehension  that  our  territory  is  becoming  too  wide- 
ly extended  to  be  embraced  within  a  single  govern- 


328  ADDRESS   TO    CONSTITUENTS. 

ment.  I  do  not,  for  a  moment,  share  this  apprehen- 
sion. The  great  political  fabric  under  which  we  live 
is  new  and  complex,  and,  I  believe,  capable  of  great 
enlargement.  Nothing  in  ancient  or  modern  times 
can  furnish  a  resemblance  to  it.  It  does  not  consist 
of  a  single  state,  like  some  of  the  ancient  republics, 
nor  is  it  an  empire  like  the  Roman,  concentrating  its 
strength  in  a  single  central  seat  of  power,  and  spread- 
ing its  arms  and  its  institutions  by  conquest  over  re- 
mote regions.  Our  growth  is  natural  *and  sponta- 
neous ;  it  is  the  result  of  the  inherent  energy  of  our 
people,  and  it  does  not  enfeeble  the  general  govern- 
ment by  bringing  new  states  under  its  jurisdiction. 
The  Roman  empire  sent  its  eagles,  in  the  hands  of 
the  Roman  soldier,  from  the  African  desert  to  North- 
ern Germany,  and  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean.  The  principle  upon  which  this  empire 
was  extended  was  force:  a  decay  of  the  central  pow- 
er left  the  distant  possessions  at  liberty  to  assert  their 
independence,  and  they  threw  off  a  yoke  which  the 
feeble  hand  of  a  degenerate  race  could  no  longer  bind 
upon  their  necks.  But  our  progress  is  the  spread  of 
a  great  family,  all  bearing  with  them  the  law,  the 
traditions,  the  sympathies,  and  the  religion  of  those 
from  whom  they  have  removed.  Our  system  of  gov- 
ernment, too,  blends  the  advantages  of  a  local  juris- 
diction with  the  authority  of  a  federal  power.  Mon- 
tesquieu, one  of  the  most  philosophical  political  writ- 
ers which  any  age  has  produced,  says  that  ' '  a  CONFED- 
ERATE REPUBLIC  has  all  the  internal  advantages  of  a 
republican,  together  with  the  external  force  of  a  mo- 
narchical government.  As  this  government  is  com- 


ADDRESS    TO    CONSTITUENTS.  329 

posed  of  small  republics,  it  enjoys  the  internal  hap- 
piness of  each,  and,  with  respect  to  its  external  situ- 
ation, it  is  possessed,  by  means  of  the  association,  of 
all  the  advantages  of  large  monarchies."  Our  gov- 
ernment, then,  being  a  confederate  republic,  will  en- 
able us  to  sprqad  our  population  and  our  institutions 
over  our  entire  domain.  We  must  bear  in  mind,  too, 
that  modern  civilization  has  wrought  great  changes 
in  the  relations  which  nations  bear  to  each  other. 
The  means  of  intercommunication  are  so  improved  by 
modern  science,  that  those  parts  of  the  world  which 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  consider  the  most  re- 
mote from  each  other  are  brought  into  neighborhood. 
Steam  and  the  magnetic  telegraph  enable  us  to  cir- 
culate ideas  throughout  our  wide-spread  limits  with 
a  rapidity  that  overcomes  time  and  distance ;  what  is 
uttered  or  written  at  the  seat  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment is  addressed  directly  to  the  great  body  of  the 
American  people ;  they  observe  the  movements  of  the 
government,  and  pass  upon  our  measures  as  if  they 
were  present  at  the  capital.  The  action  of  the  gov- 
ernment is  felt  immediately  at  the  most  remote  points, 
and  an  impression  is  made  as  directly  upon  the  great 
mind  of  the  nation  as  if  its  widely-scattered  popula- 
tion were  gathered  into  a  single  community.  The 
progress  of  business  in  the  halls  of  Congress  is  known 
in  New  Orleans,  Cincinnati,  and  Boston  as  soon  as  it 
is  known  in  Washington.  Even  the  most  remote 
parts  of  our  country  are  not  really  more  distant  from 
each  other  than  the  most  widely-separated  points  of 
the  old  thirteen  states  were  when  a  single  government 
was  established  for  them.  These  means  of  intercom- 


330  ADDRESS    TO    CONSTITUENTS. 

munication  must  be  increased;  they  must  be  taxed 
as  lightly  as  possible ;  postage  must  be  reduced ;  rail- 
roads must  be  multiplied,  and  the  Pacific  coast  must 
be  brought  nearer  to  us  by  the  early  construction  of 
one  of  those  great  highways  of  commerce  and  of  trav- 
el. The  scheme  of  retaliation  lately  projected  of  dis- 
criminating against  the  products  of  other  states  must 
be  abandoned,  and  our  whole  legislation — the  legisla- 
tion of  Congress  and  the  legislation  of  the  States — 
must  be  guided  by  a  comprehensive,  national,  and 
patriotic  spirit.  These  states  must  regard  each  oth- 
er as  kindred  states ;  the  CONSTITUTION  must  be  recog- 
nized in  all  of  them  as  the  supreme  law;  and  the  acts 
of  Congress,  passed  in  accordance  with  its  provisions, 
must  be  obeyed ;  and  we  must  fix  in  our  own  minds 
and  in  our  hearts  the  idea  that,  as  we  have  had  a 
common  origin,  we  must  have  a  common  destiny.  If 
the  past  has  witnessed  our  struggles,  let  the  future 
exhibit  our  triumphs.  Let  the  great  standard  of  the 
republic  forever  float  over  states  associated  in  a  Union 
as  indissoluble  as  it  is  glorious. 

The  disturbing  question  which  has  threatened  to 
array  one  section  against  another  in  irreconcilable 
hostility  is  disposed  of.  I  comprehended  its  danger, 
and  I  foresaw  that  the  agitation  which  attended  it 
would  be  fatal,  unless  the  government  could  be  brought 
to  confine  its  action  within  the  limits  ordained  by  the 
Constitution.  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  late  session  of  Congress,  to  assert  your 
rights  in  the  strongest  terms,  and  to  state  in  the  most 
explicit  manner  what  it  seemed  to  me  must  be  the 
certain  and  disastrous  issue  of  any  act  of  aggression 


ADDRESS   TO   CONSTITUENTS.  331 

on  them  by  the  general  government.  This  frankness 
was  due  to  you,  to  the  North,  by  whose  representa- 
tives hostile  measures  were  urged,  and  to  the  country 
at  large.  The  protracted  discussion  carried  on  in 
Congress,  and  the  angry  feeling  which  too  often  char- 
acterized it,  filled  the  country  with  apprehension,  and 
impeded  the  progress  of  public  business. 

But  that  scene  prepared  the  way  for  the  great 
measures  which  followed,  and  which  constitute  a  com- 
plete adjustment  of  the  alarming  controversy  which 
for  so  long  a  time  disturbed  the  repose  of  the  coun- 
try. The  beginning  was  necessary  to  the  end.  The 
adjustment,  in  the  language  of  President  Fillmore's 
admirable  message,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  " FINAL  ONE." 
The  general  government  possesses  no  power  to  inter- 
fere with  our  domestic  institutions;  its  power  ex- 
hausts itself  when  it  touches  the  limits  of  a  state. 
Let  us,  then,  cultivate  a  patriotism  large  enough  to 
embrace  our  whole  country.  Let  us  hope  that  our 
rights  will  be  respected  by  the  other  states  of  the 
Union.  Let  us  forbear  any  hostile  acts  on  our  own 
part.  I  certainly  desire  to  see  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  agricultural  regions  of  the  South  a  varied  in- 
dustry, which  shall  rival  that  of  the  North,  and  which 
shall  spread  over  our  fertile  plains  all  the  embellish- 
ments which  wealth  and  a  high  civilization  can  be- 
stow. I  desire,  too,  to  see  a  direct  trade  with  foreign 
countries  carried  on  through  Southern  ports.  But  I 
desire  to  see  all  this  brought  about  by  the  enterprise 
and  the  energy  of  our  people,  entering  into  a  bold  and 
generous  competition  with  those  of  the  other  states. 
We  should  seek  to  make  Alabama  a  great  and  wealthy 


332  ADDRESS    TO    CONSTITUENTS. 

state,  and  we  can  do  this  by  the  vigorous  development 
of  our  resources.  Our  fertile  soil,  our  noble  streams, 
our  great  cotton  crop,  our  exhaustless  mineral  wealth, 
our  population  intelligent,  industrious,  enterprising, 
and  religious,  these  will  enable  us  to  advance  with  a 
steady  and  rapid  march  in  civilization,  without  re- 
sorting to  legislative  expedients  to  tax  the  products 
of  other  states  associated  with  us  in  a  common  gov- 
ernment, one  of  the  great  objects  of  which  is  to  keep 
open  the  channels  of  intercommunication. 

These  are  my  views ;  they  are  frankly  expressed, 
and  I  hope  that  they  will  meet  your  approbation.  In 
bringing  our  connection  as  constituents  and  represent- 
ative to  a  close,  I  beg  you  to  receive  them  as  the  sen- 
timents of  a  heart  penetrated  with  a  sense  of  your 
kindness,  and  unswervingly  devoted  to  those  who, 
throughout  my  political  course,  have  given  me  a  sup- 
port as  steady  as  it  has  been  generous.  I  shall  re- 
turn to  enter  upon  my  duties  once  more  as  a  citizen. 
I  fixed  my  residence  among  you  when  young  and  in- 
experienced, and  I  shall  return  to  my  cherished  home 
with  an  affection  for  it  which  neither  time  nor  ab- 
sence have  chilled.  Coming  as  I  now  am  to  mature 
manhood,  I  feel  that  I  must  employ  the  vigor  of  my 
life  in  attention  to  interests  which  have  been  too  long 
neglected,  and  I  shall  gladly  relinquish  the  honors 
and  the  responsibilities  of  public  life,  to  enter  upon 
the  quieter  but  happier  duties  of  a  private  station. 

HENRY  "W.  HILLIARD. 

Washington,  December  3d,  1850. 


GENERAL  TAYLOR'S  CLAIMS  TO  THE 
PRESIDENCY. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT  THE  BUENA  VISTA  FESTIVAL,  HELD  IN  THE 
CHINESE  MUSEUM,  PHILADELPHIA,  FEBRUARY  22d,  1848. 

WE  meet,  fellow-citizens,  under  the  most  interest- 
ing circumstances ;  the  past  and  the  future  shed  their 
blended  light  upon  us.  I  rejoice  that  I  am  here  on 
this  occasion,  and  that  I  see  around  me  so  large  an 
assemblage  of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia — a  city  re- 
nowned not  only  for  its  wealth  and  intelligence,  but 
for  its  constant  attachment  to  Whig  principles.  I 
know  that  a  double  motive  brings  us  together  this 
evening ;  we  come  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  a 
day  which  gave  Washington  to  the  world,  and  of  a 
day  which  opened  upon  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
battle-scenes  which  has  occurred  in  ancient  or  modern 
times- — a  battle-scene  which  exhibited  the  great  qual- 
ities of  another  American  general  who  so  strongly 
resembles  Washington — I  mean  General  Zachary 
Taylor.  The  day  will  go  down  to  posterity  with 
these  glorious  associations,  and  will  call  out  from 
succeeding  generations  ever-increasing  gratulations. 
We  meet  not  only  to  celebrate  these  great  results,  but 
to  counsel  together,  on  this  hallowed  anniversary, 
upon  the  best  interests  of  the  country. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  colonies 
which  had  fought  through  that  great  struggle  became 
united  states,  under  a  system  of  confederation  which 


334  GENERAL  TAYLOR^  CLAIMS  TO  THE  'RESIDENCY. 

did  not  accomplish  the  objects  for  which  it  was  cre~ 
ated.  A  Convention  met  to  form  a  more  perfect  un- 
ion, composed  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the  time,  and 
the  present  Constitution  was  agreed  upon.  Who 
was  chosen  to  guide  the  new  government  into  the 
troubled  waters  of  an  untried  future  ?  Not  Adams, 
trained  as  he  was  in  the  departments  of  civil  life ; 
not  Hamilton,  with  his  clear,  profound,  and  compre- 
hensive intellect ;  not  Jefferson,  with  all  his  genius, 
courage,  and  enthusiasm.  No,  to  none  of  these  was 
the  helm  committed  in  that  trying  hour;  but  the 
bold,  manly,  vigorous  hand  of  Washington  grasped 
it,  and  the  world  saw  the  doubt  and  apprehension  of 
a  young  nation,  just  entering  upon  its  career,  soon 
give  way  to  confidence  and  hope. 

The  simple  grandeur  of  that  first  president  was 
suited  to  the  great  proportions  of  the  government 
which  he  undertook  to  administer.  We  live  in  event- 
ful times.  The  great  virtues  of  the  early  days  of  the 
republic  seem  almost  lost  to  us.  We  need  some 
man  who  is  not  simply  a  politician ;  some  man  cast 
in  a  noble  mould ;  some  man  endeared  to  the  Amer- 
ican people  by  his  services;  some  man  who,  on  try- 
ing occasions,  has  displayed  both  courage  and  wis- 
dom ;  some  man  whose  public  and  private  character 
are  alike  spotless,  to  vindicate  the  principles  of  the 
American  government,  and  bring  it  back  to  its  purer 
and  better  days. 

In  the  order  of  Providence,  such  a  man  is  present- 
ed to  us  now.  That  man  is  General  Zachary  Taylor. 
(Great  acclamation.) 

We  desire  to-day,  in  the  midst  of  the  impressive 


GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY.  335 

scenes  which  surround  us,  to  present  him  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  as  a  candidate  for  the  pres- 
idency. Washington  once  filled  that  great  station. 
After  the  lapse  of  half  a  century,  we  wish  to  see  it 
filled  by  Taylor,  whose  name  and  deeds  will  be  for- 
ever associated  with  his. 

We  present  General  Taylor  as  a  candidate,  not 
merely  because  of  his  great  strength  with  the  Amer- 
ican people,  but  because  of  the  great  qualities  which 
belong  to  him.  To  a  mind  clear  and  vigorous  he 
adds  a  great  heart.  His  enlightened  judgment,  his 
self-possession  in  the  midst  of  danger,  his  keen  fore- 
sight, his  love  of  truth,  his  independence,  his  unself- 
ishness, his  modesty,  these  all  proclaim  him  great. 
His  whole  character  is  admirably  balanced,  display- 
ing a  rare  combination  of  high  endowments. 

How  complete  is  his  oblivion  of  self!  His  whole 
course  is  characterized  by  a  generous  regard  for  oth- 
ers. His  reception  at  New  Orleans  was  a  brilliant 
one,  and  a  friend  remarked  to  him,  "  General,  this  is 
a  bright  day  for  you;  you  must  have  enjoyed  it." 
"Not  altogether,"  he  replied;  "there  were  so  many 
women  arid  children  present  that  I  was  afraid  some 
of  them  would  get  hurt."  Was  there  ever  before  a 
man  heard  of,  who,  upon  the  occasion  of  a  great  and 
imposing  public  reception,  was  more  alarmed  for  the 
safety  of  women  and  children  than  elated  at  the  hon- 
ors paid  him  ?  This  little  incident,  so  unimportant 
in  itself,  beautifully  illustrates  a  great  character. 

Was  there  ever  before  a  man  known  among  us  who 
spoke  of  others  as  better  qualified  than  himself  for 
an  office  to  which  the  uplifted  voice  of  a  nation  was 


336  GENERAL  TAYLOR'S  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY. 

calling  him  ?  In  the  letter  just  read  to  us,  General 
Taylor  speaks  of  Henry  Clay  as  better  suited  (tre- 
mendous applause)  to  the"  presidency  than  himself. 
I  rejoice,  fellow-citizens,  at  this  demonstration  of  re- 
gard for  Mr.  Clay.  It  proves  your  attachment  to 
the  Whig  cause.  It  attests  the  sacrifice  you  make 
in  giving  up  one  who  has  long  stood  at  the  helm, 
and  firmly  held  his  station  amid  tempest  and  storm. 
You  have  done  battle  for  him  nobly,  and  you  still 
cheer  him,  while  you  rally  round  the  standard  of  a 
great  captain  who  will  lead  us  to  certain  victory. 
(Loud  cheers.)  Taylor  is  worthy  to  lead  you;  his 
great  services  and  his  great  character  alike  claim  your 
confidence.  Of  him  it  may  be  said,  as  one  said  of  a 
noble  Roman, 

"  The  elements  are 

So  mix'd  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up, 
And  say  to  all  the  world,  This  is  a  man." 

His  character  is  illustrated  by  his  career.  We  all 
remember  the  profound  anxiety  which  pervaded  the 
country  when  the  news  reached  us  that  the  small 
army  under  General  Taylor,  then  stationed  upon  the 
Rio  Grande,  was  threatened  by  an  overwhelming 
Mexican  force ;  that  Thornton  and  his  company  were 
cut  off,  and  that  an  attack  was  about  to  be  made  on 
Fort  Brown.  The  commanding  general  had  marched 
to  Point  Isabel  for  his  supplies.  He  was  returning ; 
but  he  seemed  to  be  cut  off  by  a  Mexican  army, 
which  occupied  the  ground  before  him,  and  threaten- 
ed to  annihilate  him.  The  battle  of  Palo  Alto  was 
fought,  and  the  Mexicans  gave  back  before  the  Amer- 
ican guns.  The  next  morning  a  council  of  officers  was 


GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE*  PRESIDENCY.  337 

assembled,  and  the  question  was  asked,  i '  Shall  we  re- 
turn to  Point  Isabel,  or  advance  to  Fort  Brown?" 
There  were  brave  officers  who  thought  it  rash  to  ad- 
vance in  the  face  of  an  overwhelming  force,  strongly 
posted,  and  they  thought  it  best  to  fall  back.  After 
hearing  opinions,  General  Taylor  said,  "Gentlemen, 
if  I  live,  I  will  sleep  in  Fort  Brown  to-night."  With 
what  anxiety  did  the  little  garrison  left  there  await 
the  result  of  that  day's  fight !  The  fierce  and  exult- 
ing hosts  poured  down  upon  the  American  troops, 
and  for  a  moment  hid  them  from  view;  but  when  the 
cloud  of  battle  was  rent,  out  rode  Taylor  at  their 
head,  the  broken  ranks  of  the  Mexican  army  flying 
before  him,  and  bearing  to  Fort  Brown  the  first  news 
of  their  own  defeat,  as  they  swept  by  in  utter  terror 
and  confusion. 

The  next  conflict  between  the  American  and  Mex- 
ican arms  took  place  at  Monterey — a  walled  city,  fill- 
ed with  troops,  and  defying  attack.  But  it  yielded 
to  the  impetuous  valor  of  American  soldiers,  led  on 
by  Taylor.  No  strength  of  position,  no  disproportion 
of  numbers,  could  withstand  them.  The  annals  of 
the  world  can  not  furnish  a  parallel  to  such  an  ex- 
ploit. 

The  semi-fabulous  accounts  of  the  conquest  of  Gra- 
nada show  no  such  achievement. 

But  at  Buena  Vista  General  Taylor  exhibited  the 
great  qualities  which  belong  to  him  so  conspicuously 
that  the  world  saw  he  was  a  man  cast  in  no  common 
mould.  It  must  be  remembered  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  regular  force  was  withdrawn  from 
him,  and  he  was  left  in  an  advanced  and  exposed 

Y 


338  GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY. 

position,  supported  only  by  a  small  body  of  volun- 
teers. 

The  Mexican  army,  twenty  thousand  strong,  was 
bearing  down  upon  him,  led  by  their  greatest  chief, 
Santa  Anna.  In  this  perilous  position,  it  became 
General  Taylor's  duty  to  determine  whether  he  should 
stand  and  make  battle  against  such  fearful  odds,  or 
fall  back  upon  Monterey,  as  he  had  been  authorized 
to  do  by  the  commander-in-chief.  The  great  consid- 
erations involved  in  his  decision  passed  in  review  be- 
fore him.  If  he  fell  back,  he  must  abandon  to  the  en- 
emy the  whole  country  which  the  position  command- 
ed. The  spirit  of  the  army,  too,  would  be  damped  by 
a  retreat.  Yet  his  returning  spies  reported  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Mexican  force  in  all  its  overpowering 
strength  ;  and,  as  he  looked  out  upon  his  own  lines, 
he  saw  himself  supported  by  less  than  five  thousand 
troops,  and  of  these  only  two  squadrons  of  cavalry 
and  three  battalions  of  light  artillery,  making  just 
four  hundred  and  fifty-three  (453)  men,  were  regular 
soldiers.  He  resolved  to  stand.  His  mind  swept  the 
whole  horizon  about  him.  He  saw  his  danger,  but 
he  saw  his  duty,  and  he  resolved  to  STAND. 

The  shock  of  battle  came.  The  infuriated  Mexican 
hosts  poured  down  upon  the  little  body  of  American 
troops,  almost  surrounding  them  ;  but  Taylor  was 
there,  unshaken  as  a  rock,  against  which  the  billows 
dash  in  vain ;  and  when  no  regiment  could  be  found 
to  support  a  battery,  he  supported  it  himself. 

When,  after  two  days'  struggle,  the  smoke  of  battle 
cleared  away  from  that  hard-fought  field,  there  stood 
Taylor,  his  bayonets  gilded  by  the  sun  of  victory,  and 


GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY.  339 

the  banner  of  his  country,  which  floated  over  him, 
crowned  with  imperishable  victory. 

We  need,  at  this  moment,  such  a  man  to  stand  for- 
ward as  our  leader.  The  crisis  demands  him,  and  we 
may  thank  an  overruling  Providence  that  the  crisis 
has  produced  him.  Trying  occasions  call  out  great 
men.  They  are  sometimes  born  amid  convulsions, 
which  they  afterward  guide  for  the  good  of  mankind. 
Now,  when  the  government  is  in  the  hands  of  a  reck- 
less administration,  we  must  wrest  it  from  those  who 
would  drive  it  headlong  upon  swift  destruction.  We 
want  a  leader  who  will  open  the  way  to  victory — who 
will  scatter  the  serried  ranks  of  the  opposing  force — 
and  that  leader  is  "the  old  thunderer  of  the  Cordil- 
leras." Victory  knows  his  standard.  Even  now, 
poised  in  mid  air,  it  waits  to  see  that  standard  once 
more  flung  out  under  the  heavens,  to  light  upon  it, 
and  proclaim  a  peaceful  and  beneficent  conquest. 

It  is  said  he  is  not  a  Whig.  Who  can  doubt,  after 
the  letter  which  we  have  read  here  to-night  ?  He  is 
not  the  mere  creature  of  a  party.  I  honor  him  for  it. 
He  belongs  to  his  country — to  his  whole  country ; 
and,  if  he  should  undertake  the  administration  of  the 
government,  he  will  enter  upon  his  great  task,  as 
Washington  did,  uncommitted,  unfettered,  looking  to 
no  resolutions  of  a  Convention,  but  looking  to  the 
condition  of  the  country  and  to  the  Constitution. 

He  is  a  Whig — a  Whig  in  principle,  a  Whig  in 
affinities — and  he  will  be  a  Whig  upon  the  noblest 
model. 

There  is  a  broad  distinction  between  the  principles 
and  the  measures  of  a  party.  The  great  principle  of 


340  GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY. 

the  Whig  party  is  its  conservative  feeling,  its  dispo- 
sition to  check  the  headlong  career  of  a  dangerous  ad- 
ministration, to  arrest  the  proclivity  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  bring  it  back  to  the  purer  and  better  days 
of  the  republic.  Measures  are  designed  to  carry  out 
principles,  and  must  vary  with  the  changing  condi- 
tion of  the  country.  But  there  is  an  ever-springing 
vigor  about  the  great  principles  of  the  Whig  party; 
and  in  view  of  them,  in  the  noblest  sense  of  the  term, 
General  Taylor  is  a  WHIG.  The  country  has  suifered 
too  much  from  mere  partisans,  and  I  desire  to  con- 
tribute to  the  election  of  a  President  who  will  rise 
into  the  loftier  character  of  a  patriot. 

Gentlemen,  at  this  hour  we  must  look  to  our  cause. 
We  must  give  up  men.  I  have  stood  by  Mr.  Clay 
with  unshrinking  fidelity.  At  Harrisburg,  in  1839, 
I  sustained  his  nomination  up  to  the  last  moment; 
but,  when  General  Harrison  was  chosen,  I  took  my 
place  under  his  standard,  and  followed  it  into  the 
thickest  of  the  fight.  In  my  judgment,  we  must  take 
the  same  course  now,  or  our  cause  is  doomed  to  dis- 
aster and  defeat. 

We  are  practical  men.  We  shall  not  indulge  the 
wild  enthusiasm  which  would  impel  us  into  a  desper- 
ate, hopeless  conflict  for  the  elevation  of  a  favorite 
leader.  Men  must  give  way  that  the  cause  may  tri- 
umph. Under  General  Taylor's  banner  we  fear  no 
defeat.  He  stood  upon  the  field  of  Buena  Vista  sup- 
ported mainly  by  volunteers — the  regular  troops  had 
been  withdrawn  from  him ;  and  yet,  when  Santa 
Anna,  with  his  twenty  thousand  men,  rushed  down 
upon  him,  they  recoiled  from  the  shock,  covered  with 


GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY.  341 

inglorious  defeat.  So  it  is  now.  General  Taylor 
stands  out  the  candidate  of  the  people.  He  is  sus- 
tained only  by  volunteers.  The  regular  forces  have 
not  yet  come  into  the  field.  But  he  can  not  be  driven 
from  his  position ;  and  if  attacked  by  any  force,  under 
any  leader,  he  will  give  them  another  Buena  Vista. 
I  see  around  me  gallant  spirits,  and  I  know  that, 
when  General  Taylor's  name  is  brought  forward,  they 
will  spring  to  their  guns  as  Bragg  and  Washington 
did  to  their  batteries. 

The  States  are  ready  to  declare  for  him.  New  En- 
gland will  soon  fling  out  his  banner.  New  York  is 
already  sending  its  forces  to  his  support,  and  will  give 
him  the  vote  of  an  empire.  Pennsylvania  will  march 
its  legions  into  the  lines  which  form  about  him.  Vir- 
ginia only  waits  to  hear  his  name  proclaimed  to  join 
the  mighty  Whig  phalanx.  A  shout  for  Taylor  comes 
up  from  the  great  West ;  while  almost  the  whole 
South — North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Mississippi,  Loui- 
siana, and  Florida — have  already  declared  for  him ; 
and  I  firmly  believe  that,  if  we  spread  that  banner  to 
the  breeze  in  Alabama,  we  shall  be  able,  though 
against  great  odds,  to  bring  the  ship,  so  long  mis- 
guided, into  the  Whig  line  of  battle. 

Rome  was  accustomed  to  call  home  her  victorious 
generals,  and  reward  them  with  public  triumphs. 
We  shall  call  home  a  general,  so  modest,  so  pure,  so 
like  Washington,  to  give  him  a  still  higher  reward. 
We  have  other  generals  to  lead  our  armies  to  battle, 
but  to  him — to  Taylor — we  shall  intrust  the  helm  of 
state.  He  leads  home  no  captives ;  he  leaves  behind 
no  prisoners  in  chains ;  and  he  returns,  as  we  hope, 


342  GENERAL  TAYLORS  CLAIMS  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY. 

to  wield,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  the  powers  of  the 
chief  magistracy,  and  to  bring  back  the  government 
to  its  ancient  purity. 

George  "Washington  was  the  first  President  o*  the 
United  States.  In  the  gallery  of  the  King  of  the 
French,  at  Versailles,  in  a  collection  of  illustrious  por- 
traits, I  saw  the  form  of  that  AMERICAN  whose  fame 
is  so  wide  that  mankind  claim  it  as  a  heritage,  and  I 
rejoiced  that  I  was  an  American.  I  trust  that  now, 
from  the  very  storm  of  battle,  another  man  is  disclosed 
to  the  view  of  the  American  people,  who,  while  he 
resembles  Washington  in  the  great  lineaments  of  his 
character,  will  administer  the  government  as  he  did. 

Such  is  my  conviction  of  the  dangers  to  which  the 
country  is  exposed — such  my  earnest  wish  to  bring 
the  government  back  to  its  earlier  and  better  days, 
that,  whatever  standard  there  may  be  in  the  field,  my 
heart,  my  voice,  my  energies  shall  be  employed  in 
support  of  General  Taylor. 


MASSACHUSETTS  AND  THE  UNION. 

A   SPEECH   DELIVERED    IN   BOSTON,  AT   A  DINNER   GIVEN   BY   THE   CITY 
COUNCIL  TO  A  COMMITTEE  OF  CONGRESS,  MARCH  13th,  1848. 

MR.  PRESIDENT, — The  very  handsome  tribute  to 
Alabama  to  which  we  have  just  listened  calls  for 
some  reply  on  my  part. 

I  should  be  insensible  too,  sir,  to  generous  emo- 
tions, if  I  could  remain  silent  after  the  allusion  which 
has  been  made  to  the  state  of  which  I  am  the  only 
representative  present  by  the  very  eloquent  and  dis- 
tinguished gentleman  (Hon.  Harrison  Gray  Otis)  to 
whose  speech  we  have  all  listened  with  so  much  pleas- 
ure. If  there  were  nothing  else  to  make  this  even- 
ing remarkable — if  we  could  forget  that  every  state 
of  the  Union  has  her  representative  here — if  we  could 
forget  the  dignified  character  of  that  national  mission 
which  assembles  us  in  this  city — if  we  could  overlook 
the  number  of  other  distinguished  persons  who  are 
here  this  evening,  the  presence  of  that  gentleman 
alone  would  impart  to  it  a  peculiar  interest. 

His  illustrious  career  is  already  historical.  He 
stands  before  us  a  noble  impersonation  of  the  great 
qualities  which  rendered  the  earlier  period  of  our 
country's  history  so  renowned. 

Belonging  to  a  younger  generation,  I  think  myself 
most  fortunate  in  being  present  on  this  occasion ;  I 
have  heard  one  whose  fame  long  since  inspired  the 
wish  to  meet  him,  and  whose  eloquence  gave  him  the 


344  MASSACHUSETTS   AND   THE   UNION. 

pre-eminence  in  Congress  in  those  days  when  that 
was  regarded  as  the  highest  distinction  in  this  coun- 
try. In  his  speech  this  evening  he  has  shed  light 
upon  an  eventful  period  in  our  history,  and  has  shown 
that  New  England  felt  her  full  share  of  patriotic  ar- 
dor even  at  the  commencement  of  the  late  war  with 
Great  Britain. 

He  speaks  of  Alabama  as  she  was  when  the  sav- 
age roamed  through  her  native  forests,  and  when  the 
beauty  of  her  scenery  might  have  induced  the  adven- 
turous traveler  to  penetrate  far  into  the  green  and 
pathless  wilderness,  or  to  explore  her  noble  streams, 
if  the  Indian  in  his  untamed  ferocity  had  not  driven 
him  away  from  bowers  hardly  less  beautiful  than 
those  of  Eden. 

If  he  were  now  to  visit  Alabama,  he  would  find 
that  the  wilderness  had  been  made  glad ;  the  Indian 
has  followed  in  the  track  of  the  setting  sun  ;  civiliza- 
tion, wealth,  and  refinement  would  meet  his  view, 
and  the  gentleman  would  find  himself  welcomed  to 
homes  whose  hospitality  might  tempt  him  to  linger 
long  under  our  Southern  skies. 

It  is  quite  true,  Mr.  President,  that  I  am  strongly 
attached  to  the  Union ;  my  sentiments  are  not  mis- 
understood by  the  gentleman  who  has  done  me  the 
honor  to  refer  to  them ;  and  I  know,  sir,  that  the 
people  of  Alabama  are  faithful  to  the  Union. 

A  more  patriotic  people  can  not  be  found  any 
where :  they  will  stand  by  the  government  and  the 
Constitution.  With  peculiar  interests,  it  is  but  nat- 
ural that  they  should  exhibit  some  sensibility  in  re- 
gard to  the  legislation  of  Congress,  and  the  spirit 


MASSACHUSETTS    AND   THE    UNION.  345 

manifested  by  other  states ;  indeed,  they  must  have 
lost  all  revolutionary  recollections  if  they  did  not 
watch  with  jealousy  the  encroachments  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  demand  from  it  an  ample  protection  for 
all  their  property  and  all  their  rights.  They  confide 
in  the  good  faith  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  the  just  action  of  the  government,  which,  they 
trust,  will  never  transcend  the  limits  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. 

I  think,  sir,  I  may  promise  for  Alabama  that  she 
will  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Massachusetts 
in  upholding  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  Mas- 
sachusetts has  been  true  to  the  Union  throughout  her 
whole  history,  and  she  will  be  loyal  to  it  while  her 
granite  hills  stand.  How  could  she  be  otherwise  ? 
She  is  covered  all  over  with  monuments  which  mark 
the  spots  where  the  battles  of  freedom  were  fought ; 
the  blood  of  martyrs  consecrates  her  soil ;  and  the 
American,  of  all  future  times,  will  tread  her  plains 
and  visit  her  heights  with  such  emotions  as  swelled 
the  bosom  of  the  Athenian  when  he  stood  upon  Mar- 
athon or  Thermopylae. 

This  very  city  was  the  cradle  of  American  liberty, 
and  the  convulsion  which  rocked  it  was  the  Revolu- 
tion. Yonder  harbor  witnessed  the  first  resistance 
of  the  American  people  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Brit- 
ish government. 

That  granite  column,  which  rises  in  its  noble  pro- 
portions not  far  from  the  spot  where  we  are  now  as- 
sembled, marks  the  place  where  American  valor  first 
resisted  and  repelled  British  troops. 

But  a  little  way  from  us  is  the  spot  where  WASH- 


346  MASSACHUSETTS    AND    THE    UNION. 

INGTON  rode  out  to  take  command  of  the  army  of  the 
Revolution. 

Fanueil  Hall  yet  rings  with  the  tones  of  indignant 
and  heroic  men,  who  defied  the  colossal  power  of 
Great  Britain. 

The  house  of  Hancock  yet  stands,  recalling  the 
early  struggles  of  that  eventful  period,  and  bringing 
vividly  before  us  the  man  whose  bold  signature  first 
graced  the  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

The  ashes  of  the  elder  Adams  are  mingling  with 
your  soil,  and  we  have  just  borne  the  remains  of  his 
illustrious  son  to  the  family  tomb  at  Quincy. 

Nor  is  it  in  the  past  alone  that  we  find  Massachu- 
setts has  shown  her  loyalty  to  the  country,  and  her 
fidelity  to  the  Union.  At  this  moment  her  sons  are 
engaged  in  the  public  councils,  and  are  emulating  the 
noble  example  set  them  by  the  men  of  that  great  gen- 
eration which  has  almost  passed  away. 

To  one  of  them  especially  is  the  country  indebted 
for  services  to  the  Union,  and  that  country  has  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  proudest  title  which  an  Amer- 
ican citizen  can  wear — DEFENDER  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 
His  argument  in  defense  of  the  Union,  made  some 
years  since  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  re- 
ply to  Mr.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  who,  with  all 
the  ardor  and  frankness  of  his  nature,  spoke  for  the 
South,  and  uttered  an  indignant  and  vehement  denun- 
ciation of  the  government,  which  seemed  to  be  con- 
trolled by  the  policy  of  the  North,  ranks  with  the  no- 
blest orations  of  ancient  or  modern  times. 

Never  to  the  people  of  Athens,  nor  to  the  Senate 
of  Rome,  nor  to  the  British  Parliament,  were  nobler 


MASSACHUSETTS   AND   THE   UNION.  347 

words  addressed.  That  speech  will  stand  when  the 
walls  of  the  Capitol  in  which  it  was  uttered  have 
crumbled  into  dust,  when  the  granite  column  on 
Bunker  Hill  is  leveled  by  time,  and  when  these  proud 
states  may  no  longer  constitute  a  great  confederacy. 
The  sentiment  with  which  that  speech  closes  is  the 
sentiment  of  the  American  people ;  they  have  learn- 
ed it  by  heart ;  future  generations  will  utter  it  with 
glowing  patriotism  and  irrepressible  enthusiasm ;  and 
every  where  throughout  the  wide-spread  borders  of 
the  republic  the  great  popular  cry  will  be,  in  all  times 
when  liberty  is  in  danger  or  the  Union  threatened 
with  disruption,  "  Liberty  and  Union ;  now  and  for- 
ever, one  and  inseparable." 


AMEKICAN  INDUSTRY. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  AT  CASTLE 
GARDEN,  NEW  YORK,  OCTOBER  14tb,  1850. 

Mr.  Hilliard  then  rose,  amid  loud  applause.     He  said : 

I  FEEL  myself  honored,  fellow-citizens,  in  being  thus 
introduced  to  you  by  the  venerable  and  distinguished 
President  of  the  American  Institute,  who  has  so  long 
devoted  his  talents  and  energies  to  the  cause  of  in- 
dustry, and  the  development  of  the  resources  of  this 
great  state. 

And  I  feel  myself  honored,  too,  in  being  thus  re- 
ceived by  you,  representing  as  you  do  the  industry, 
the  skill,  the  wealth,  and  the  enterprise  which  are  so 
rapidly  advancing  our  country  in  civilization. 

I  come  to  you  from  a  distant  state — a  state  known 
to  you  mainly,  so  far,  by  its  agriculture,  yet  not  want- 
ing in  mineral  resources,  and  already  engaged  suc- 
cessfully in  manufactures.  But,  coming  from  that 
state  to  this  emporium  of  commerce — this  city  which 
has  already  outstripped  every  city  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe,  and  which  is  destined  soon  to  rival  the 
great  metropolis  of  England  itself — coming  to  this 
city,  I  feel  there  are  some  considerations  which  bind 
us  together  in  common  sympathy. 

I  can,  on  the  present  occasion,  when  there  is  so 
much  all  around  you  to  interest  you,  advert  to  but 
one  or  two  of  these  considerations.  The  first  of  these 
is,  that  we  belong  to  the  same  country;  we  are  all 


AMERICAN   INDUSTRY.  349 

Americans ;  we  are  all  citizens  of  one  government. 
I  come  from  a  state  washed  by  the  waters  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  I  am  now  in  a  city  belonging  to  a 
great  state  washed  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  stand 
this  evening  in  a  building  against  which  the  waves 
of  New  York  Bay  break;  yet  the  broad  expanse 
which  stretches  between  New  York  and  Alabama, 
between  your  home  and  my  home,  is  our  common 
country.  Every  part  of  it — every  plain,  and  mount- 
ain, and  stream,  and  village,  and  city,  all  belong  to 
us ;  and  over  the  whole  extent  of  it,  the  same  great 
and  beneficent  political  system  spreads  its  majestic 
proportions. 

The  same  flag  that  floats  over  your  shipping  floats 
over  ours ;  the  same  historic  recollections  which  warm 
your  hearts  warm  ours ;  and  the  same  future  that  has 
opened  to  your  eyes  has  opened  to  ours.  Diversities 
I  know  there  are ;  great  states,  called  by  different 
names,  there  are;  but  they  are  not  hostile  states. 
No  fortress  frowns  upon  the  streams  which  mark 
^their  boundaries ;  it  is  but  an  extension  of  the  same 
family;  they  have  spread  from  the  Atlantic  shores 
to  the  Mississippi — to  the  Rocky  Mountains — to  the 
Pacific  coast,  but  they  have  borne  with  them  every 
where  the  same  religious  and  political  institutions. 

As  Americans,  therefore,  I  know  that  in  this  we 
shall  sympathize  with  each  other — we  have  a  com- 
mon country ;  common  in  its  origin,  common  in  its 
history,  and  common  in  its  destiny.  There  is  another 
consideration  to  which  I  will  advert.  It  is  this :  We 
are  all  alike  interested  in  the  success  of  American  in- 
dustry; we  feel  we  are  pledged  to  this  great  cause. 


350  AMERICAN    INDUSTRY. 

The  industry  which  belongs  to  the  North  interests  us 
of  the  South;  and,  gentlemen,  I  say  to  you,  standing 
here  as  a  representative  in  the  Congress  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  in  my  judgment,  the  common  government 
ought  to  grant  a  wise,  moderate,  and  steady  protec- 
tion to  American  industry. 

I  believe  that  agriculture,  the  first  great  employ- 
ment of  man — the  noblest  employment  of  man — agri- 
culture, which  takes  one  from  his  fireside  into  the 
fields,  where  with  the  plow  he  turns  the  soil  to  the 
face  of  heaven,  and  casts  the  seed  in  with  his  hands- 
agriculture  should  enjoy  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment, whose  protection  should  also  be  equally  ex- 
tended to  the  mechanic  arts.  Let  the  artisan  who 
labors  at  the  forge  or  in  the  work-shop  feel  that  his 
government  cares  for  and  protects  him,  and  he  will 
feel  an  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  his  government. 

I  regard  this  exhibition  as  one  of  the  noblest  dis- 
plays of  American  character.  It  is  like  America ! 

Some  years  since,  when  in  Europe,  I  witnessed  an 
Exhibition  of  Industry  in  Paris ;  it  was  composed 
chiefly  of  articles  of  beauty  and  grace.  Every  where 
the  eye  rested  on  some  article  marked  by  exquisite 
skill.  Every  thing  attested  the  perfection  to  which 
art  had  been  carried  in  some  of  its  branches. 

But  when  I  entered  your  Fair  to-night,  I  found  that 
you  are  employed  chiefly  in  the  production  of  useful 
articles.  I  find  here  the  plow,  the  scythe,  the  axe, 
and  among  these  the  manufactures  of  our  looms.  Of 
all  the  branches  of  human  industry  and  specimens  of 
excellent  skill,  the  great  elements  I  see  are  those  of 
power — mighty  industry,  spreading  happiness  over 
the  land. 


AMERICAN   INDUSTRY.  351 

In  former  times,  wealth  and  industry  were  expend- 
ed for  the  benefit  of  the  few.  The  head  of  a  power  ^ 
ful  dynasty,  one  who  had  his  retainers,  enjoyed  chiefly 
the  result  of  their  labors.  It  is  not  so  now.  The 
skill  of  the  mechanic,  the  power  of  the  artisan,  and 
the  wealth  of  the  capitalist,  these  are  now  employed 
for  the  benefit  of  the  masses ;  not  to  make  the  great 
greater  and  the  rich  richer,  but  to  spread  comfort 
among  the  masses,  to  make  their  firesides  smile  with 
happiness,  and  their  children  rejoice  in  the  home  of 
industry. 

This  is  the  great  picture  which  America  presents — 
industry  diffusing  wealth  among  the  masses.  It  is 
a  glorious  spectacle  of  wide-spread  happiness.  The 
tendency  of  our  institutions  is  to  diffuse  wealth  rather 
than  to  concentrate  it  in  a  few  hands,  and  I  rejoice 
that  it  is  so.  But  understand  me ;  wealth  is  entitled 
to  protection  as  well  as  industry.  I  have  no  sympa- 
thy with  that  class  of  reformers  who  would  strip  the 
wealthy  of  their  possessions,  and  scatter  them  abroad 
in  the  vain  hope  of  augmenting  the  sum  of  human 
happiness  by  destroying  the  great  principles  which 
bind  society  together.  Far  be  it  from  me,  gentlemen. 
I  would  have  every  man  enjoy  his  individual  prop- 
erty ;  I  am  for  that  sort  of  industry  which  spreads 
wealth  among  the  laboring  classes,  and  elevates  them 
gradually  to  the  scale  that  rises  above  them. 

Government  is  constituted  for  the  good  of  those 
who  support  it;  no  government  can  be  stable  or 
powerful  which  is  not  administered  for  their  benefit. 
I  find  that  I  have  announced  a  great  political  doc- 
trine ;  it  is  one  which  history  teaches,  and  future  gen- 


352  AMERICAN    INDUSTRY. 

erations  will  write  it  upon  the  face  of  the  whole 
earth.  No  government  ought  to  stand  which  over- 
looks or  neglects  the  welfare  of  its  people.  The 
American  government,  the  greatest  popular  govern- 
ment which  the  world  has  ever  beheld,  is  established 
for  the  protection  of  its  people  in  all  their  rights,  at 
home  and  abroad.  When  the  American  citizen  quits 
his  own  shores,  he  looks  to  his  government  for  pro- 
tection against  the  tyranny  of  other  governments ; 
upon  the  high  seas  he  feels,  in  the  flag  that  floats 
over  him,  ample  security,  because  the  whole  power 
of  America  goes  with  that  flag ;  and,  wherever  he 
may  go  in  his  travels,  he  feels  that  his  far-distant 
home  guarantees  his  safety. 

But,  gentlemen,  this  is  not  the  only  object  for 
which  our  government  was  established.  The  citizen 
must  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of 
his  industry.  The  government,  in  conducting  its 
great  operations,  must  not  overlook  the  individual 
prosperity  of  its  people,  or  sacrifice  their  personal 
welfare  merely  to  advance  the  glory  of  the  state.  It 
should,  in  its  action,  foster  the  labor  of  its  people. 
I  do  not  mean  that  it  should  shower  benefits  upon 
the  indolent ;  far  from  it.  We  raise  our  revenue  by 
laying  imposts.  Now,  are  we  to  do  this  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  the  greatest  amount  of  revenue,  and 
thus  increase  our  treasury?  Far  from  it.  We  are 
so  to  lay  them  upon  foreign  imports  as  to  discrimin- 
ate in  favor  of  our  own  industry ;  not  so  as  to  keep 
out  the  foreign  article,  but  to  do  what  shall  result  to 
the  benefit  of  the  producer  at  home.  While  we  thus 
raise  an  ample  revenue,  and  carry  on  the  government, 


AMERICAN    INDUSTRY.  353 

we  shall  make  the  system  tributary  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  whole  country — the  North  and  the  South — 
and  to  all  classes — the  manufacturer  and  the  planter. 
And  now,  gentlemen,  allow  me  to  say,  speaking  to 
you  as  a  Southern  man,  that  the  diversified  interests 
of  our  great  country  must  all  be  respected.  There 
must  be  no  war  made  by  the  South  upon  the  proper- 
ty and  the  industry  of  the  North,  nor  must  there  be 
any  war  made  by  the  North  upon  the  property  and 
the  industry  of  the  South.  I  appeal  to  you,  Mr.  Pres- 
ident, distinguished  as  you  have  been  in  public  life, 
personal  character  and  mind,  to  hear  me,  when  I  ut- 
ter this  great  truth.  We  must  make  no  war  upon 
your  property  and  industry,  arid  you  must  make  no 
war  upon  ours.  This  is  the  great  conservative  ele- 
ment of  our  Union ;  it  is  only  upon  this  grant  that 
we  can  hold  together  as  a  general  government.  We 
are  one  people,  with  a  common  origin ;  our  interests, 
however  diversified,  are  yet  kindred  and  dependent ; 
our  history  and  our  destiny  are  the  same.  While  we 
understand  each  other  in  this  respect,  there  is  no  dif- 
ficulty in  upholding  the  government.  I  am  a  South- 
ern man  by  birth,  by  education,  by  innumerable  and 
indestructible  ties  ;  my  ashes  will  mingle  with  South- 
ern soil ;  but  my  heart  beats  with  exultation,  which 
I  should  attempt  in  vain  to  express  in  words,  when  I 
survey  the  growth,  the  prosperity,  and  the  rising  glo- 
ries of  this  whole  country.  Your  resources,  great  as 
they  are — your  wealth,  teeming  as  it  is — this  magnif- 
icent display  of  mechanic  art — none  of  this  awakens 
within  me  any  jealous  or  unworthy  feeling.  I  rejoice 
in  your  prosperity ;  I  would  cheer  you  in  the  bright 

Z 


354  AMERICAN    INDUSTRY. 

career  which  opens  before  you ;  all  this  constitutes  a 
part  of  the  power,  the  glory  of  my  country ;  and  I 
look  forward  to  the  day  when,  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  agricultural  regions  of  the  South,  a  varied  in- 
dustry will  appear  to  add  new  embellishments  and 
new  riches  to  a  region  for  which  Providence  has  al- 
ready done  so  much.  Our  manufacturing  establish- 
ments are  multiplying,  and  will,  I  hope,  soon  rival 
yours.  My  own  state  is  making  rapid  progress  in 
this  way.  It  is  with  this  feeling  that  I  greet  you  this 
evening — an  American  citizen  addressing  American 
citizens ! 

I  desire  the  Union  of  these  states  to  stand  through 
all  coming  time.  On  the  occasion  to  which  my  hon- 
orable friend  the  president  has  referred,  I  said  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  what  I  am  happy  to  say 
here:  "I  have  never  looked  to  a  destruction  of  the 
government  as  a  remedy  for  existing  evils.  Rival 
states  would  soon  become  belligerent  states,  and  ar- 
mies would  be  employed  to  decide  the  supremacy  be- 
tween them.  The  flag  that  floats  to-day  over  every 
part  of  our  wide-spread  country,  from  the  banks  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  in  full  view  of  the  British  posses- 
sions, to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  where  it  catches  the 
eye  of  the  navigator  returning  from  Asia,  and  from 
our  ships,  which  bear  it  upon  all  the  waters  of  the 
earth,  is  known  and  honored  as  the  ensign  of  a  great 
and  powerful  republic.  It  is  associated  with  all  the 
glories  of  our  past  history;  its  folds  glitter  before  the 
eyes  of  mankind  as  the  sign  of  hope  and  universal 
freedom;  and  I  trust  that  it  will  forever  fly  over 
states  free,  prosperous,  and  kindred;  not  divided  into 


AMERICAN    INDUSTRY.  355 

petty  principalities  or  feeble  leagues,  but  united,  as 
they  are  to-day,  under  a  government  the  freest,  the 
happiest,  and  the  noblest  upon  which  the  sun  has 
ever  shone." 

This  sentiment  I  adhere  to ;  here  and  elsewhere  I 
proclaim  it;  I  desire  to  see  the  UNION  which  binds 
these  states  STAND.  To  perpetuate  it,  we  must  be 
just  to  each  other. 

We  occupy  a  great  central  position ;  Europe  lies 
on  one  side  of  us,  Asia  on  the  other ;  and  if  we  hold 
together  as  one  people,  no  glass  is  broad  enough  or 
clear  enough  to  read  the  horoscope  which  the  future 
opens  before  us.  Here  agriculture  will  yield  its  ex- 
haustless  treasures;  here  commerce  will  bring  the 
products  of  every  clime ;  mechanic  industry  will 
achieve  its  greatest  triumphs ;  the  arts  will  produce 
their  noblest  works ;  intellect  will  accomplish  its  high- 
est labors  and  exhibit  its  grandest  discoveries ;  civil- 
ization will  here  make  its  abode,  and  surround  itself 
with  every  thing  which  can  adorn  and  brighten  hu- 
man life. 

Let  us,  then,  stand  by  the  Constitution.  The  ene- 
mies of  the  Constitution  are  the  enemies  of  the  gov- 
ernment— the  enemies  of  the  country.  The  govern- 
ment can  not  exist  unless  the  Constitution  is  to  be 
obeyed.  If  some  of  its  provisions  seem  to  bear  hard 
on  you,  you  must  remember  that  some  of  its  provis- 
ions seem  to  bear  hard  on  us.  The  Constitution  must 
be  respected;  its  authority  is  supreme.  We  must 
bear  and  forbear.  When  a  crisis  comes  which  appeals 
to  our  sectional  sentiments — a  crisis  which  would  ar- 
ray the  North  against  the  South — let  us  rekindle  our 


356  AMERICAN   INDUSTRY. 

patriotism,  by  going  back  to  the  scenes  in  which  the 
great  and  the  good  men  took  part  who  formed  the 
Constitution,  and  we  shall  learn  from  them  to  deal 
with  each  other  as  members  of  the  same  great  family, 
and  to  cherish  a  patriotism  broad  enough  to  embrace 

OUr  WHOLE  COUNTRY. 

I  thank  you,  fellow-citizens,  for  your  kind  indul- 
gence in  bearing  with  me,  and  for  the  very  cordial 
manner  in  which  you  have  responded  to  the  senti- 
ments which  I  have  ventured  to  express. 


THE  AMEEICAN  GOVEENMENT. 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  MUSICAL  FUND  HALL,  PHILADELPHIA, 
JANUARY  3d,  1851. 

ON  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  three  small  ships  in  the 
port  of  Palos,  on  the  coast  of  Spain,  were  seen  to 
spread  their  sails  to  the  winds,  and  direct  their  course 
to  the  west.  They  bore  Christopher  Columbus  and 
his  companions,  who,  leaving  the  shores  of  Europe, 
sought  a  new  world.  For  eight  long  years  genius  had 
struggled  against  discouragements ;  Genoa,  France, 
England,  and  Portugal  had  all  rejected  the  earnest 
appeals  of  that  great  navigator,  whose  mind  was  fill- 
ed with  the  sublime  conception  of  a  spherical  and 
poised  world.  Isabella  of  Spain  at  length  gave  him 
the  means  for  entering  upon  his  great  voyage ;  and, 
committing  himself  to  the  guidance  of  Him  who  made 
the  sea,  he  called  up  from  the  midst  of  the  wide  wa- 
ters this  continent,  and  presented  it  to  civilized  man. 
Full  of  mingled  anxiety  and  hope — contending  with 
the  fears  of  the  weak,  and  the  opposing  counsels  of 
the  ignorant,  Vho  began  to  murmur  that  they  were 
about  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  wild  dream  of  an  ambi- 
tious adventurer — compelled  to  keep  two  reckonings 
of  his  voyage,  the  true  one  privately,  lest  his  crew 
should  discover  the  progress  they  were  making  in  un- 
known seas — perplexed  himself  at  observing,  for  the 
first  time,  the  variation  of  the  needle,  as  if  he  were 
passing  away  from  the  ordinary  laws  of  the  physical 


358  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

world,  that  bold  navigator  still  spread  his  canvas 
with  a  steady  hand,  and  kept  on  his  course. 

By  the  10th  of  October  the  consternation  of  his 
crew  rose  so  high  that  they  could  hardly  be  restrain- 
ed from  breaking  forth  into  open  mutiny.  They  ex- 
claimed against  him  as  a  reckless  adventurer,  sweep- 
ing into  the  dangers  of  a  boundless  sea,  and  bearing 
them  to  a  returnless  distance  from  the  shores  of  Eu- 
rope. Columbus  was  unmoved;  he  trod  the  deck 
with  a  firm  step,  and  his  eye  swept  the  horizon.  The 
very  next  day  after  quelling  his  insurgent  crew,  when 
the  evening  prayer  was  over,  he  ordered  a  careful 
look-out  for  land,  and  remained  himself  till  a  late 
hour  on  the  high  deck  of  his  vessel.  He  fancied  that 
he  saw  lands  and  lights.  Was  it  an  illusion,  or  was 
a  world  heretofore  unknown  about  to  rise  upon  his 
vision?  At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  gun  was 
fired  from  the  foremost  ship  as  a  signal  that  land  was 
seen.  That  gun  announced  to  the  world  the  discov- 
ery of  a  continent. 

The  discovery  was  made  at  the  right  time.  Until 
that  hour,  this  continent  had  been  kept  hid  away 
from  the  Old  World.  Parts  of  Asia,  Africa,  and 
Europe  were  known  to  the  ancients,  and  modern  na- 
tions had  spread  themselves  over  those  continents. 
The  time  had  come,  in  the  order  of  Providence,  for 
bringing  America  to  the  view  of  the  civilized  world. 
Great  inventions  and  improvements  in  the  arts  had 
just  been  disclosed,  and  a  grand  event  in  the  moral 
world  was  at  hand  when  this  new  and  vast  continent 
rose  up  before  Europe.  Nine  years  before  its  discov- 
ery, MARTIN  LUTHER  was  born.  Thus  the  world  saw 


THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  359 

a  new  continent  brought  to  light  at  the  very  time 
when  the  enfranchisement  of  mind  began.  Who  can 
measure  the  extent  of  the  influence  which  these  two 
events,  the  birth  of  Martin  Luther  and  the  discovery 
of  America,  have  exerted  upon  the  human  race  ?  The 
vast  extent  of  America  afforded  a  place  of  refuge  for 
the  persecuted  advocates  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
Sheltered  within  its  deep  wildernesses,  they  could  wor- 
ship God,  and  they  cultivated  the  great  principles 
which  afterward  found  so  glorious  a  development  in 
the  Revolution  which  emancipated  the  colonies  plant- 
ed by  Great  Britain,  and  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the 
cause  of  human  liberty  throughout  the  whole  world. 

In  spreading  out  the  map  of  the  world,  we  observe 
that  it  is  divided  into  certain  great  parts.  Of  these, 
the  American  continent  is  one,  and  it  is  set  apart 
from  the  other  portions  of  the  earth  by  oceans.  Prov- 
idence has  given  to  us  the  fairest  portion  of  the  north- 
ern division  of  this  great  continent.  Our  inheritance 
stretches  through  the  temperate  zone,  and  is  bounded 
by  the  two  great  oceans  of  the  world.  Our  grant  is 
like  that  of  the  patriarch :  uLift  up,  now,  thine  eyes, 
and  look  from  the  place  where  thou  art,  northward 
and  southward,  and  eastward  and  westward ;  for  all 
the  land  which  thou  seest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it,  and 
to  thy  seed  forever." 

Flying  from  intolerance  and  persecution  for  the  re- 
ligious arid  political  opinions  which  they  held,  men 
who  comprehended  and  loved  liberty  sought  in  the 
undisturbed  forests  of  North  America  a  refuge  and  an 
abode.  England  sent  out  colonies,  and  they  brought 
with  them  the  high  qualities  of  the  race  which  has 


360  THE   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT. 

led  the  way  in  spreading  the  great  principle  of  free- 
dom— freedom  in  religion  and  freedom  in  government 
— over  the  world ;  a  race  which  has  converted  an  isl- 
and, which  formed  the  remotest  outpost  of  Roman 
conquests,  into  the  seat  of  an  empire  more  extensive 
than  that  of  Rome  in  its  proudest  days ;  which  has 
not  only  belted  the  globe  with  its  fortresses,  and  sent 
its  flag  into  all  the  seas  of  the  earth,  but  whose  mil- 
itary glory  and  maritime  power,  surpassing  as  they  do 
any  thing  which  the  ancient  or  modern  world  ever 
beheld,  are  less  objects  of  our  admiration  than  that 
high  civilization  which  they  serve  to  diffuse.  These 
states  grew  up  out  of  colonies  planted  by  a  Protestant 
free  people.  Their  whole  history  may  be  written  in 
a  single  sentence :  they  were  settled  by  Englishmen 
and  Protestants.  An  attempt,  on  the  part  of  En- 
gland, to  disregard,  in  the  government  of  the  colonies, 
the  principles  which  were  so  much  prized  at  home, 
excited  resistance.  Blood  was  shed;  battles  were 
fought ;  a  revolution  was  organized ;  independence 
was  declared ;  and  the  earnest  men  who  proclaimed 
it,  pledging  to  each  other  their  lives,  their  fortunes, 
and  their  sacred  honor,  fought  through  the  protracted 
war  which  followed  and  established  it.  Then  came 
the  task  of  forming  a  government.  Separated  from 
the  systems  of  the  Old  World  by  the  Atlantic — con- 
scious of  their  responsibility — profoundly  acquainted 
with  the  events  of  history,  and  with  its  ancient  and 
modern  illustrations  all  before  their  eyes,  the  men 
who  undertook  the  task  of  erecting  a  new  government 
brought  to  it  the  noblest  qualities.  They  presented 
a  sublime  spectacle.  History  describes  upon  none 


THE   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT.  361 

of  its  pages  such  a  scene.  Other  governments  had 
grown  up  under  circumstances  whose  imperious  press- 
ure gave  them  their  peculiar  forms,  and  they  had 
been  modified,  from  time  to  time,  to  keep  pace  with 
an  advancing  civilization;  but  here  was  a  govern- 
ment created  by  men  emancipated  from  all  foreign  in- 
fluence, and  who,  in  their  deliberations,  acknowledged 
no  supreme  authority  but  that  of  GOD.  States,  al- 
ready republican  and  independent,  were  formed  into 
a  confederation,  and  the  great  principles  of  the  gov- 
ernment were  embodied  in  a  CONSTITUTION.  The 
Union  then  established  has  ever  since  existed.  Un- 
der its  protection,  we  have  grown  from  weakness  to 
strength.  Our  wealth,  our  population,  and  our  pow- 
er have  steadily  advanced ;  and  to-day  we  hold  an  un- 
disputed empire  over  a  territory  stretching  from  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and  the  sparse 
population  which,  when  the  government  was  formed, 
fringed  the  Atlantic  coast,  has  spread  itself  westward, 
the  Hocky  Mountains  have  been  passed,  and  the  laws, 
the  letters,  the  traditions,  and  the  religion  of  the  col- 
onists are  seated  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  Our 
progress  has  more  than  transcended  that  of  the  fabled 
god  of  the  ancients,  who,  beginning  his  morning  jour- 
ney in  the  east,  drove  his  flaming  chariot  through  the 
sky,  until  he  dipped  his  glowing  axle  in  the  western 
waves.  Behind  us  have  sprung  up  all  the  blessings 
of  a  high  civilization ;  nor  will  they  disappear  be- 
neath the  waves  of  that  placid  ocean  which  we  have 
reached  in  our  march.  There  they  will  grow  and 
flourish,  and  their  kindling  lustre  will  spread  over 
the  Polynesian  Islands,  and  gild  the  distant  shores  of 


362  THE    AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

Asia  with  a  richer  and  purer  splendor  than  they  have 
ever  enjoyed  before.  In  thus  glancing  at  the  history 
of  our  government,  we  do  not  go  back  to  a  fabulous 
antiquity ;  we  do  not  trace  its  origin  to  an  age  cov- 
ered with  mists  and  shadows ;  we  seek  no  Egerian 
cave  to  find  its  source ;  no  early  barbarian  usages  mix 
themselves  with  its  principles.  The  clear  light  of  day 
rests  upon  it.  We  know  the  men  who  formed  it ;  we 
grasp  the  Constitution  which  they  gave  us. 

I  purpose  at  this  time  to  consider  the  relations  be- 
tween the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  ;  to  inquire  into  the  rights  which  the  republic 
guarantees  to  the  citizen,  and  the  duty  which  the  cit- 
izen owes  to  the  republic. 

The  great  principle  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States  is  that  which 
declares  the  people  to  be  the  source  of  all  political 
power.  This  doctrine  is  unknown  in  systems  where 
the  supreme  authority  is  in  the  hands  of  a  monarch. 
In  the  most  liberal  monarchies,  concessions  which 
could  no  longer  be  safely  withheld  have  been  reluct- 
antly granted  to  the  people.  The  power  of  the 
crown  resists  the  power  of  the  masses.  All  power 
which  has  not  been  expressly  granted  away  belongs 
to  the  sovereign ;  but,  in  our  system,  the  precise  re- 
verse of  this  is  the  true  doctrine ;  the  supreme  pow- 
er belongs  to  the  people,  and  they  have  created  and 
defined  the  restraints  upon  popular  liberty.  The 
structure  of  our  political  system  is  peculiar — the 
world,  in  its  whole  history,  does  not  furnish  a  single 
parallel.  Sovereign  and  independent  states  are  united 
in  a  confederacy  wrhich  wields  a  few  great  powers  af- 


THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  363 

fecting  both  our  foreign  and  domestic  relations,  while 
the  state  governments,  or  the  people  themselves,  hold 
the  entire  authority,  which  has  not  been  conferred 
upon  the  federal  government.  This  arrangement 
provides  every  safeguard  for  personal  liberty,  while 
it  secures  national  strength.  These  states  are  not 
what  Montesquieu  styles  "an  assemblage  of  societies" 
allied  for  certain  general  purposes ;  they  have  estab- 
lished a  government  invested  with  sovereign  power 
for  the  full  exercise  of  the  functions  conferred  upon 
it.  But  our  political  system  is  not  a  consolidated 
one,  confiding  all  power  to  the  general  government. 
As  a  despotism  is  the  simplest  of  all  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, conferring  absolute  power  upon  a  single  in- 
dividual, ours  is  the  most  complex  of  all  forms,  sub- 
dividing, balancing,  and  checking  the  powers  vested 
in  its  several  parts.  Alexander  Hamilton,  "clarum 
et  venerabile  nomen,"  has  sketched  the  character  of 
our  government  in  that  clear  and  philosophical  style 
for  which  he  was  so  distinguished ;  and  I  quote  him 
the  more  freely,  for  he  will  not  be  suspected  of  con- 
ceding too  much  to  the  doctrine  of  state  sovereignty: 
"An  entire  consolidation  of  the  states  into  one  com- 
plete national  sovereignty  would  imply  an  entire  sub- 
ordination of  the  parts,  and  whatever  powers  might 
remain  in  them  would  be  altogether  dependent  on  the 
general  will.  But,  as  the  plan  of  the  Convention 
aims  only  at  a  partial  union  or  consolidation,  the 
state  governments  would  clearly  retain  all  the  rights 
of  sovereignty  which  they  before  had,  and  which  were 
not,  by  that  act,  exclusively  delegated  to  the  United 
States.  This  exclusive  delegation,  or,  rather,  aliena- 


364  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

tion,  of  state  sovereignty  would  only  exist  in  three 
cases — where  the  Constitution  in  express  terms  grant- 
ed an  exclusive  authority  to  the  Union ;  where  it 
granted,  in  one  instance,  an  authority  to  the  Union, 
and,  in  another,  prohibited  the  states  from  exercising 
the  like  authority ;  and  where  it  granted  an  author- 
ity to  the  Union  to  which  a  similar  authority  in  the 
states  would  be  absolutely  and  totally  contradictory 
and  repugnant." 

Here,  then,  it  will  be  perceived,  are  some  of  the 
peculiarities  of  our  political  system :  a  federal  gov- 
ernment is  created,  its  powers  are  defined  and  limit- 
ed, and,  as  it  possesses  no  inherent  authority,  it  de- 
rives all  which  belongs  to  it  from  grants  expressly 
made  to  it.  The  tenth  article  of  the  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  is  in  these  words:  uThe  powers 
not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved 
to  the  states  respectively,  or  to  the  people." 

Our  government  rests  upon  the  Constitution ;  that 
is  supreme — it  binds  the  states — it  restrains  the  peo- 
ple— it  controls  Congress — it  limits  the  authority  of 
the  executive.  This  is  the  grand  feature  in  our  in- 
stitutions— all  power  which  the  people  have  consent- 
ed to  delegate  is  clearly  defined  in  the  Constitution. 
The  people  are  the  source  of  power,  but  the  people 
do  not  administer  the  government.  The  popular 
will  is  only  to  control  the  action  of  the  government 
so  far  as  it  may  make  itself  felt  through  the  forms 
which  the  Constitution  has  prescribed.  Here  we  rec- 
ognize the  broad  distinction  between  a  republic  and 
a  simple  democracy.  In  a  republic  like  our  own, 


THE    AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  365 

where  the  representative  principle  is  adopted,  the 
people  consent  to  commit  the  administration  of  pub- 
lic affairs  to  certain  magistrates,  chosen  by  them- 
selves, in  accordance  with  the  supreme  laws.  In  a 
democracy,  such  as  history  exhibits  as  existing  for- 
merly in  Greece,  the  people  are  the  government. 
Liberty,  in  such  a  state,  is  always  in  danger ;  it  has 
no  ramparts  for  its  protection  against  the  wildest 
passions  of  the  multitude.  It  has  been  well  said, 
u  The  ancient  democracies,  in  which  the  people  them- 
selves deliberated,  never  possessed  one  feature  of  good 
government ;  their  very  character  was  tyranny,  their 
figure  deformity."  The  Constitution — not  the  will 
of  a  majority — is  the  supreme  law  of  the  United 
States.  A  more  disastrous  political  condition  could 
not  be  imagined  than  that  to  which  we  should  be  ex- 
posed if  the  restraints  which  the  Constitution  imposes 
were  withdrawn.  The  wildness  of  party,  the  mad- 
ness of  fanaticism,  the  selfishness  of  sections,  aided 
by  powerful  geographical  combinations,  would  be 
brought 'to  bear  upon  the  legislation  of  Congress. 
Against  these  evils  we  are  protected  by  the  clear  def- 
inition of  the  powers  of  the  several  departments  of 
the  government  which  we  find  in  that  great  instru- 
ment whose  silent  power  guides  and  restrains.  Our 
government  is  one  of  consent,  not  force.  Like  the 
planetary  system,  it  is  kept  in  harmonious  action  by 
the  great  law  of  universal  attraction.  Yet,  while  it 
rests  so  lightly  on  those  whom  it  protects,  it  is  the 
strongest  government  on  earth.  Upon  every  sea 
where  our  flag  is  seen,  our  power  is  acknowledged. 
The  stars  which  glitter  upon  its  folds  announce  to 


366  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

the  whole  world  the  union  of  free  states — states 
which,  in  their  very  infancy,  cast  off  the  dominion  of 
the  most  formidable  power  on  the  globe — states 
which  are  growing  beyond  all  example  in  numbers 
and  resources — states  which  already  surpass  every 
other  nation  in  all  the  elements  of  a  high  civilization, 
and  which  promise  to  realize,  in  the  future  which 
opens  before  them,  the  noblest  hopes  which  the 
friends  of  mankind  have  ever  dared  to  indulge.  Let 
this  Union  stand  through  all  the  cycles  of  coming 
time.  Then  will  our  country  fulfill  the  noble  pro- 
phetic description  of  Archbishop  Cranmer : 

"  Wherever  the  bright  sun  of  heaven  shall  shine, 
Her  honor  and  the  greatness  of  her  name 
Shall  be,  and  make  new  nations  ;  she  shall  flourish, 
And,  like  a  mountain  cedar,  reach  her  branches 
To  all  the  plains  about  her. 
Our  children's  children  shall  see  this, 
And  bless  Heaven." 

In  glancing  at  the  relation  which  the  American 
citizen  bears  to  his  government,  we  must  not  overlook 
the  great  fact  that  the  civil  liberty  which  he  enjoys 
is  not  dependent  upon  the  character  and  disposition 
of  those  who  may  happen  to  be  in  power,  but  is  pro- 
tected by  muniments  which  can  not  be  borne  down, 
and  which  guarantee  to  him  the  undisturbed  posses- 
sion of  his  noble  inheritance  through  every  change 
of  administration.  An  absolute  monarch,  of  liberal 
views  and  amiable  temper,  may  administer  his  gov- 
ernment for  the  good  of  his  subjects,  but  the  nature 
of  the  government  affords  them  no  security  against 
tyranny  under  some  future  ruler.  There  is  no  polit- 
ical truth  in  the  celebrated  lines  of  a  great  English 
poet,  Pope — 


THE    AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  367 

"  For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest ; 
Whate'er  is  best  administered  is  best." 

Every  people  who  comprehend  liberty  will  set  up 
barriers  for  its  protection  against  the  encroachments 
of  despotic  power,  and  their  value  has  been  illustrated 
in  every  generation  since  the  barons  of  England,  at 
Runnymede,  wrested  from  John  the  Great  Charter. 

The  great  fundamental  principle  of  our  institu- 
tions, *which  declares  the  people  to  be  the  source  of 
power,  at  the  same  time  opens  to  all  the  avenues  to 
distinction  and  office.  Poverty  and  humble  birth 
are  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  worth  and  talents.  In 
Rome,  Cincinnatus  was  called  from  his  plow  to  the 
supreme  power,  and  in  America  the  humblest  citizen 
may  be  elevated  to  the  highest  station.  In  the  great 
contests  of  life,  a  very  large  proportion  of  our  most 
eminent  men  have  risen  to  distinction  from  humble 
families.  Truth,  manliness,  uprightness,  and  energy 
are  the  great  qualities  which  make  themselves  felt  in 
our  institutions.  It  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of 
their  power  to  stimulate  exertion  and  encourage 
merit,  to  see  one  who  owes  nothing  to  birth  rising 
from  his  humble  fortunes  to  the  highest  trusts  and 
the  noblest  stations  of  the  republic,  asserting  his 
claims  to  distinction  without  the  aid  of  heraldry,  and 
by  his  own  great  qualities  vindicating  his  right  to  the 
honors  of  his  country.  We  confer  neither  stars,  nor 
garters,  nor  ribbons ;  but  we  do  confer  the  noblest 
earthly  reward  which  can  be  realized,  next  to  our 
own  consciousness  of  having  done  well,  in  giving  to 
those  who  have  served  their  country  faithfully  the 
unbought  thanks  of  millions  of  freemen.  It  is  theirs 


368  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

"  The  applause  of  listening  senates  to  command, 

The  threats  of  pain  and  ruin  to  despise — 
To  scatter  plenty  o'er  a  smiling  land, 

And  read  their  history  in  a  nation's  eyes." 

The  American  citizen  enjoys  the  unrestricted  right 
of  worshiping  God  in  any  form  that  he  may  prefer. 
In  the  beautiful  language  of  the  prophet,  uWe  sit 
every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree,  and 
none  make  us  afraid."  Here  every  creed  is  tolerated, 
and  religion  invites  into  her  temples  every  sect.  *They 
worship  side  by  side,  as  in  the  ancient  encampment 
of  Israel,  each  tribe  distinguished  by  its  own  banner, 
but  every  tribe  looking  up  to  the  living  God  for  guid- 
ance and  protection.  Liberty  of  conscience  is  ours 
in  the  broadest  sense,  and  it  is  a  liberty  precious  be- 
yond description.  Who  shall  attempt  to  fix  its  val- 
ue ?  Let  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  rise  up  and  say 
what  it  is  worth.  Let  those  who  died  in  the  battles 
fought  to  maintain  it  answer.  Let  the  victims  of  the 
dungeon  and  the  Inquisition  come  up  and '  say  what 
it  is,  before  we  write  it  down  as  a  small  thing.  Let 
the  ship's  company,  who,  with  the  Bible  in  their  hands, 
ventured  in  the  frail  Mayflower  across  a  wide  and 
stormy  sea,  and,  escaping  from  persecutions  on  land 
and  dangers  on  the  deep,  stood  cold  and  faint  upon 
the  shores  of  a  wide  unknown  world,  come  up  and 
speak  to  us.  We  can  almost  hear  their  solemn  ap- 
peals to  us  to  guard  well  this  great  right.  By  the 
memory  of  the  past — by  all  that  we  hold  dear  now 
— by  the  glorious  hopes  of  the  future,  we  pledge  our- 
selves to  be  faithful  to  the  great  trust. 

After  this  rapid  survey  of  the  rights  which  the  re- 
public confers  upon  its  citizens,  I  purpose  to  inquire 


THE    AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  369 

for  a  moment  into  the  duties  which  the  citizen  owes 
to  the  republic.  The  right  of  self-government  de- 
volves upon  those  who  enjoy  it  the  duty  of  studying 
the  character  of  their  institutions.  Where  every  one 
exercises  the  lofty  privilege  of  deciding  by  his  vote 
what  laws  shall  govern  his  country,  and  what  magis- 
trates shall  administer  them,  he  owes  it  to  himself,  to 
his  children,  to  his  country,  and,  I  may  say,  to  man- 
kind, to  study  and  to  comprehend  the  questions  which 
affect  the  great  interests  committed,  in  some  degree, 
to  his  keeping.  Under  our  government,  ignorance 
is  crime.  Of  all  knowledge  it  may  be  said,  in  a  good 
sense,  uits  entrance  giveth  light."  Let  it  be  spread 
among  the  people — let  it  be  sent  to  the  laborer  where 
he  is  toiling  in  the  fields — let  it  cheer  the  artisan  in 
his  daily  industry — let  it  light  the  home  of  every  man 
as  he  enters  it  in  the  evening,  and  gild  it,  however 
humble  it  may  be,  and  the  country  is  safe.  We  all 
owe  a  duty  to  our  race ;  uno  man  liveth  to  himself." 
Selfishness  has  no  place  in  a  popular  government  like 
ours.  Every  word  of  truth  that  is  uttered  helps  the 
cause  of  mankind ;  every  great  thought  strengthens 
good  government.  Nothing  that  is  good  is  lost ;  its 
immortality  is  sure ;  the  vibrations  of  sound,  we  are 
informed,  do  not  cease  at  the  lips  of  the  speaker,  but 
spread  themselves  through  the  air  until  they  encircle 
the  globe  ;  and  thus  the  voice  of  truth  swells  with  in- 
creasing volume  as  its  witnesses  continue  to  plead  in 
its  behalf,  until  its  tones  shake  the  earth,  and  find  an 
echo  in  heaven.  Every  citizen  of  the  United  States 
feels  'himself  invested  with  the  majesty  of  freedom ; 
his  voice  is  heard  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  his 

AA 


370  THE    AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

vote  decides  the  measures  of  the  government.     Ought 
he  not  to  be  enlightened  ? 

In  a  free  government  there  must  always  be  parties, 
and  there  should  be.  It  has  been  said  that  "  eternal 
vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty ;"  and  nothing  so  stim- 
ulates vigilance  as  the  conflicting  opinions  of  parties. 
But  we  should  ever  remember  that  the  claims  of  our 
country  are  above  the  claims  of  party.  So  far  from 
lending  ourselves  to  schemes  which  threaten  the  pros- 
perity, the  safety,  or  the  glory  of  the  nation,  we  should 
not  hesitate  to  arrest  them,  nor  to  plant  ourselves  in 
opposition  even  to  our  political  associates  when  they 
seek  to  promote  them.  At  such  times,  we  ought 
with  true  courage  to  speak  out,  and  to  put  every 
thing  at  stake  for  the  cause  of  truth.  A  more  hu- 
miliating spectacle  is  never  exhibited  than  that  which 
we  see  in  a  man  endowed  with  great  parts  who  loses 
sight  of  noble  objects,  and  sacrifices  to  party  faculties 
which  God  gave  for  the  good  of  mankind.  Nor  can 
we  withhold  our  admiration  from  the  statesman  who 
has  the  courage  to  breast  the  current  when  it  rolls 
about  him  deep  and  strong.  Such  men  are  like  isl- 
ands in  great  streams,  covered  for  a  time  with  mire 
and  the  confused  deposit  of  the  turbid  waters ;  this 
only  serves  to  increase  their  fertility,  and  the  rich  and 
lofty  growth  which  is  produced  upon  such  soil  at  once 
attests  their  strength,  and  enables  them  to  resist  the 
violence  of  a  current  which,  without  such  obstacles, 
might  only  carry  destruction  in  its  course.  A  party, 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  is  a  great  political  body, 
holding  liberal  sentiments  and  aiming  at  patriotic 
objects.  Such  a  body  is  entitled  to  respect;  but  a 


THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  371 

faction,  whatever  may  be  its  numbers,  is  contempt- 
ible. 

The  American  citizen  should  never  forget  that  all 
questions  which  come  up  in  the  action  of  the  govern- 
ment are  to  be  settled  by  the  moral  power  of  public 
sentiment.  In  our  system  there  is  no  room  for  vio- 
lence. The  majesty  of  the  law  is  ever  present,  silent 
but  mighty.  Every  means  of  controlling  public  sen- 
timent may  be  employed ;  opinion  may  find  utterance 
in  every  shape ;  the  press  is  free ;  popular  meetings 
may  assemble  in  any  number — all  that  can  be  accom- 
plished by  persuasion,  by  appeals  the  most  energetic, 
by  all  the  instrumentalities  of  moral  power,  may  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  political  questions.  But  force, 
brute  force,  is  never  to  be  thought  of.  So  far  the 
history  of  our  government  has  nobly  vindicated  the 
principles  of  the  government.  It  was  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  a  grand  popular  system  like  our  own 
could  go  forward  without  encountering  some  obstruc- 
tions— shocks ;  convulsions  were  to  be  expected ;  but 
these  have  so  far  served  only  to  demonstrate  its 
strength.  The  popular  enthusiasm  has  sometimes 
risen  high ;  the  contending  surges  of  public  opinion 
have  dashed  against  the  Constitution;  the  noise  of 
the  waves  and  the  tumult  of  the  people,  thundering 
against  the  barriers  of  law,  have  threatened  to  break 
beyond  all  bounds ;  but  when  the  great  question 
which  called  up  the  commotion  has  been  decided, 
what  a  calm  has  succeeded !  How  soon  has  tranquil- 
lity overspread  the  whole  surface  which  was  so  lately 
agitated!  The  ocean  sometimes  exhibits  a  scene  of 
wild  sublimity.  This  great  highway  of  nations,  de- 


372  THE  AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT. 

signed  to  enable  the  inhabitants  of  widely-separated 
climes  to  hold  intercourse  with  each  other,  is  some- 
times seen  in  majestic  repose,  whitened  with  the  sails 
of  a  busy  commerce ;  but  when  swept  with  storms, 
and  the  resounding  waves  threaten  to  swallow  navi- 
gation up,  the  scattered  fleet,  with  rent  sails,  is  seen 
flying  before  the  fury  of  the  tempest,  and  to  the  eye 
of  the  mariner  the  sea  presents  but  a  wide  picture  of 
hopeless  confusion  and  terror.  Yet,  when  the  serene 
sky  and  tranquil  deep  once  more  return,  the  seaman 
spreads  the  adventurous  canvas  over  his  dismasted 
ship,  and  the  sea-bird  stretches  his  wings  over  the 
subsiding  billows. 

The  character  of  the  American  government  must 
be  what  the  character  of  the  American  people  is ;  it 
is  idle  to  hope  for  any  great  elevation  in  the  one,  un- 
less the  other  be  enlightened  and  pure.  I  can  not 
forbear  here  to  borrow  the  language  of  the  noble  ode 
of  Sir  "William  Jones : 

"  What  constitutes  a  state  1 
Not  high-raised  battlements  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall,  or  moated  gate  ; 
Not  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  crown'd ; 

Not  bays  and  broad-arm'd  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride  ; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
Where  low-brow'd  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 
No ;  men — high-minded  men — 

These  constitute  a  state  ; 
And  sovereign  law,  that  state's  collected  will, 
High  over  thrones  and  globes  elate, 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill." 

The  American  statesman  owes  a  high  duty  to  his 
country.  Belying,  as  he  must  do,  for  success  on  pop- 


THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  373 

ular  support,  there  is  throughout  his  career  a  power- 
ful temptation  to  betray  his  trust — to  surrender  his 
independence  to  the  will  of  others — to  court  favor  by 
yielding  up  his  own  convictions  to  the  voice  of  the 
multitude.  This  temptation  he  must  resist;  manli- 
ness and  a  steady  adherence  to  truth,  whether  in  fa- 
vor or  out  of  favor,  must  mark  the  course  of  every 
man  who  will  not  lose  his  own  respect.  Popularity 
may  be  bought  at  too  high  a  price.  Who  can  with- 
hold his  admiration  from  the  sentiments  of  an  emi- 
nent English  judge,  uttered  in  the  midst  of  a  fierce 
popular  excitement  ?  u  It  is  true,"  said  Lord  Mans- 
field, UI  love  popularity,  but  it  is  that  popularity 
which  follows,  not  that  which  is  run  after ;  the  pop- 
ularity which,  sooner  or  later,  is  sure  to  crown  the 
pursuit  of  noble  ends  by  noble  means." 

If  there  be  one  quality  which  the  statesmen  of  our 
country  at  the  present  time  ought  to  cultivate  above 
all  others,  it  is  independence ;  not  a  defiance  of  the 
ascertained  will  of  the  people,  but  a  manly,  steady  ad- 
herence to  principle  through  good  report  and  evil  re- 
port ;  a  stout  defense  of  right  through  sunshine  and 
through  storm ;  holding  the  lofty  ground  of  truth 
against  all  assailants.  This  independence  every  man 
should  cultivate  who  aspires  to  serve  his  country. 

What  nobler  spectacle  can  be  looked  upon  than 
that  which  is  exhibited  by  a  statesman  who  plants 
himself  in  defense  of  a  great  principle,  and  coura- 
geously meets  its  assailants,  as  Prince  James  did 
when  he  saw  the  rising  band  of  Roderick  Dhu  gath- 
ering about  him,  and  in  proud  indignation  exclaims 
with  him, 


374  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

"  Come  one,  come  all ;  this  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  as  I  !" 

History,  the  chronicler  of  the  past,  has  preserved 
for  the  undying  veneration  of  mankind  the  names  of 
those  who,  in  the  midst  of  scenes  that  try  men,  have 
risen  above  the  influence  of  objects  which  would  have 
been  controlling  with  inferior  souls.  Out  of  the  il- 
lustrious annals  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  we  shall 
select  but  two  examples : 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  called  while  yet  a  young  prince 
to  lead  the  forces  of  the  Protestant  League,  when 
sceptred  monarchs  combined  to  persecute  and  hunt 
down  those  who  threw  off  the  authority  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  invaded  Germany,  declaring  in  advance  that 
the  single  object  which  led  him  to  march  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  another  prince  was  to  vindicate  the  right  of 
conscience  in  the  great  matter  of  religion.  He  met 
and  drove  before  him  the  ablest  generals  who  could 
be  found  to  oppose  him ;  even  Tilly,  at  the  head  of 
the  imperial  army,  could  not  stand  before  him.  The 
Emperor  Ferdinand,  alarmed  at  his  impetuous  and 
restless  advance,  sent  to  him  proposals  for  peace; 
he  was  ready  to  grant  him  the  greatest  personal  ad- 
vantages; he  offered  to  add  Pomerania  to  his  pos- 
sessions; but  Gustavus  Adolphus  replied  that  he 
had  invaded  Germany,  not  for  his  own  aggrandize- 
ment, but  for  the  protection  of  his  fellow-Protest- 
ants. Nobly  refusing  to  listen  to  any  terms  but 
such  as  would  secure  to  them  the  rights  of  conscience, 
he  gave  up  his  life  for  the  great  cause  which  he  had 
espoused;  he  opened  his  last  battle  joining  those 
about  him  in  singing  one  of  Luther's  hymns ;  his 


THE   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT.  375 

fearless  exposure  of  his  person  was  fatal  to  him,  and, 
falling  under  the  banner  which  he  had  borne  with 
such  self-sacrificing  ardor,  the  very  indignation  which 
his  troops  felt  in  seeing  such  a  leader  slain  won  a 
brilliant  victory  for  the  Protestant  cause. 

But  our  own  country  has  exhibited  the  noblest 
example  of  rare  and  great  qualities  in  the  person  of 
WASHINGTON.  Look  upon  his  picture,  and  you  are 
ready  to  exclaim  with  Hamlet, 

"  See  what  a  grace  was  seated  on  this  brow : 
Hyperion's  curls;  the  front  of  Jove  himself; 
An  eye  like  Mars,  to  threaten  and  command ; 
A  station  like  the  herald  Mercury, 
New-lighted  on  a  heaven-kissing  hill ; 
A  combination,  and  a  form,  indeed, 
Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man." 

His  qualities  were  indeed  rare  and  great.  The 
darkest  day  that  frowned  upon  the  fortunes  of  his 
country  found  him  as  steady  in  its  support  as  the 
brightest — firm  in  the  presence  of  danger — undis- 
mayed by  reverses  —  full  of  resources  when  over- 
whelmed by  numbers — moderate  in  the  moment  of 
victory. 

Called  to  administer  a  government  whose  existence 
began  amid  the  misgivings  of  friends  and  the  confi- 
dent prediction  of  failure  on  the  part  of  enemies,  he 
conducted  it  with  such  signal  wisdom  and  such  pat- 
riotic fidelity  that  distrust  at  home  gave  place  to  con- 
fidence, and  the  world  saw  with  wonder  a  great  re- 
public display  its  grand  proportions  on  the  Continent 
of  America.  Relinquishing  with  real  satisfaction 
the  power  which  he  had  consented  to  hold,  and  which 
he  had  wielded  for  the  good  of  his  country,  unbiased 


376  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

by  a  single  selfish  consideration,  he  withdrew  to  the 
home  which  he  so  much  loved.  There,  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac,  he  engaged  in  the  simple  and 
unambitious  agricultural  pursuits  which  gave  him  so 
much  pleasure,  shedding  about  him  a  serene  light, 
until  he  sank  in  death  like  the  sun  dropping  his  disk 
behind  a  world-wide  horizon.  A  noble  self-control 
and  a  sublime  sense  of  duty  were  manifested  in  his 
whole  life.  The  ordinary  objects  of  ambition  were 
in  his  eyes  little  and  mean.  Compare  him  for  a  sin- 
gle moment  with  the  Macedonian  conqueror,  who 
gave  himself  up  to  unbounded  lust  of  conquest,  and, 
standing  on  the  verge  of  his  dominions,  wept  that 
there  were  no  other  worlds  within  reach  of  his  arms ; 
or  with  Caesar,  who,  yielding  to  that  infirmity  of  no- 
ble minds,  the  love  of  power,  fell  in  the  very  senate- 
chamber  under  the  avenging  dagger  of  Brutus ;  or 
with  Napoleon,  whose  brilliant  but  desolating  career 
was  checked  at  the  moment  when  he  had  achieved 
his  highest  triumph,  and  he  who  had  kept  the  na- 
tions in  awe  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  an  island  far  from 
every  field  of  his  glory,  and  where  the  dashing  billows 
of  the  ever-heaving  sea  mocked  the  surges  of  his  own 
passions,  and  how  immeasurably  above  them  all  does 
Washington  stand  out  in  the  clear  light  of  immor- 
tality! American  as  he  was,  his  fame  is  regarded  as 
the  inheritance  of  the  human  race.  Duty,  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  every  task  to  which  he  was  called 
• — this  was  the  great  aim  of  Washington's  life.  Pre- 
cious be  his  memory !  Our  country  gave  him  birth 
• — our  country  holds  his  ashes,  and  we  would  not  ex- 
change that  simple  tomb  at  Mount  Vernon  for  the 


THE   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT.  377 

monumental  marble  of  all  the  world  besides.  By  his 
great  example  let  the  American  statesman  form  his 
own  character,  and  by  a  faithful  discharge  of  every 
duty  to  his  country,  prove  himself  worthy  to  be  a 
countryman  of  Washington. 

The  republic  confers  Upon  the  citizen  the  noblest 
privileges,  and  he  owes  to  it  the  highest  duties.  In 
the  immortal  oration  of  Cicero  against  Verres,  he  de- 
scribes with  indignation  the  violation,  on  the  part  of 
the  praetor,  of  the  rights  of  a  Roman  citizen — a  name 
which  brought  up  at  once  the  majesty  of  Roman  law. 
The  humblest  citizen  of  the  United  States  may  claim 
a  prouder  name  and  invoke  a  nobler  law.  The  re- 
public should  find  in  him  a  spirit  ready  to  serve  it, 
willing,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  it.  He  should  be  pre- 
pared at  all  times  to  uphold  its  authority.  As  our 
government  is  not  one  of  force,  but  of  consent,  it  ex- 
pects from  all  its  citizens  a  ready  obedience  to  law. 
The  Constitution  is  the  strength  of  the  government 
and  the  bulwark  of  personal  liberty;  it  must  be  up- 
held. He  who  violates  it  is  false  to  his  country,  to 
himself,  and  to  his  race.  It  can  only  be  preserved 
by  cultivating  a  profound  regard  for  its  spirit.  A 
latitudinarian  construction  is  as  fatal  to  it  as  open 
violence ;  it  is  but  a  choice  between  poison  and  the 
sword.  Some  of  the  difficulties  which  are  experi- 
enced in  administering  the  government  arise  from  its 
complex  character.  To  the  general  government  cer- 
tain enumerated  powers  have  been  committed;  these, 
upon  a  fair  construction,  are  to  be  employed  in  good 
faith  for  the  general  welfare :  the  states  have  reserved 
great  rights ;  these  are  to  be  sacredly  observed.  "We 


378  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

are  exposed  to  two  dangers — centralization,  disunion. 
The  general  government,  by  transcending  its  author- 
ity, may  grow  up  into  a  colossal  overshadowing 
power ;  the  rights  of  the  states  may  be  disregarded ; 
legislation  may  be  corrupted,  and  Congress,  yielding 
to  a  system  of  unscrupulous  plunder,  may  employ  its 
functions  to  enrich  one  section  of  the  Union  at  the 
expense  of  the  other.  If  so,  the  government,  created 
with  limited  powers,  resting  upon  compromises,  and 
designed  to  advance  the  welfare  of  these  states,  will 
grow  up  into  a  vast  consolidated  empire,  under  whose 
shadow  liberty  will  perish.  Or  dissensions  may 
spring  up,  alienations  may  ensue,  and  a  republic 
composed  of  states  inheriting  the  great  principles  of 
liberty  from  an  ancestry  who  comprehended  their 
priceless  value,  inheriting  traditions  the  most  glori- 
ous, wielding  a  power  greater  than  that  of  Rome  in 
its  palmiest  days,  securing  to  the  citizen  at  home  the 
fullest  enjoyment  of  civil  liberty,  and  spreading  a 
flag  for  the  protection  of  his  person  and  property, 
whose  sanctity  is  respected  wherever  it  is  seen  in 
•every  part  of  the  world — this  republic,  the  noblest 
"example  of  a  free  state  upon  which  the  sun  ever 
turned  his  burning  vision,  may  be  broken  asunder, 
and  the  states,  which  to-day  exhibit  such  a  wide  pic- 
ture of  peace  and  prosperity,  may  be  plunged  into 
wars  desolating,  bloody,  and  hopeless.  We  must 
stand  by  the  Constitution ;  it  is  the  great  work  upon 
which  the  government  rests ;  at  its  base  the  wildest 
billows  break  harmlessly,  and  the  proudest  hostile 
armaments,  wrecked  and  shattered,  will  be  but  tro- 
phies recording  its  power  and  its  glory. 


THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT.  379 

The  history  of  the  republics  of  antiquity  sometimes 
awakens  the  apprehension  that  our  system  can  not 
endure.  But,  leaving  out  of  view  the  structural  dif- 
ference between  those  governments  and  our  own — a 
difference  upon  which  we  will  not  farther  dwell  at 
this  moment  than  to  say  that,  in  the  great  states 
which  extended  their  power  beyond  their  original 
limits,  the  dominion  was  spread  by  conquests,  while 
the  extension  of  our  power  has  been  a  natural  and 
spontaneous  growth ;  our  people  have  spread  them- 
selves over  our  wide  domain,  bearing  with  them  the 
arts  of  peace,  and  planting  the  institutions  of  the 
country  as  firmly  on  the  shores  of  the  distant  Pa- 
cific as  they  were  originally  planted  upon  the  shores 
of  the  Atlantic — leaving  this  out  of  view,  and  not 
staying  to  point  out  another  feature  peculiar  to  our 
government,  that  of  a  confederation  of  states,  we 
possess  a  conservative  element  wholly  unknown  to 
them,  the  Christian  religion.  This  binds,  elevates, 
enlightens,  and  purifies  our  whole  system.  The  fram- 
ers  of  our  government  wisely  determined  to  establish 
no  political  connection  between  Church  and  state,  but 
yet  Christianity  was  recognized  in  every  department 
of  our  government.  All  who  hold  the  offices  of  the 
country  are  called  on,  before  undertaking  their  trusts, 
to  bind  themselves,  by  the  awful  sanctions  revealed  in 
the  Word  of  God,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  Who  can  measure  the  extent  of  the 
influence  which  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  exerts 
over  the  sentiments  of  the  American  people  ?  The 
spread  of  religion  strengthens  the  government. 
Christianity  is  opposed  to  tyranny  in  every  form;  it 


380  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

addresses  our  race  without  reference  to  birth,  or  for- 
tune, or  latitude,  or  climate,  and  it  exalts  the  whole 
family  of  man  into  a  great  brotherhood.  An  emi- 
nent man  of  our  own  country,  the  late  Mr.  Grimke, 
of  South  Carolina,  says  "that  the  New  Testament  is 
the  only  genuine  moral  constitution  of  society,  and 
its  principles  the  only  safe  and  wise  foundation  of 
civil  and  political  institutions." 

"When  the  Convention  sitting  to  form  the  Consti- 
tution found  itself,  after  four  or  five  weeks1  consulta- 
tion, perplexed,  having  searched  ancient  history  for 
models,  and  viewed  modern  states  all  over  Europe 
without  being  able  to  find  any  thing  suitable  to  the 
circumstances  of  our  country,  Franklin  proposed  to 
make  a  humble  application  to  the  Father  of  lights  for 
illumination,  saying  that  the  longer  he  lived  the  more 
convinced  he  was  of  the  truth  4  c  that  God  governs  in 
the  affairs  of  men ;  and  if  a  sparrow  can  not  fall  to 
the  ground  without  his  notice,  is  it  probable  an  em- 
pire can  rise  without  his  aid?"  The  proposition  pre- 
vailed, and  the  Convention  reached,  under  the  divine 
guidance,  that  fortunate  termination  of  its  labors 
which  history  records.  Washington  habitually  em- 
ployed divine  guidance,  and  in  his  Farewell  Address 
to  his  countrymen  he  left  it  as  his  solemnly-recorded 
sentiment  that  morality  is  essential  to  the  success  of 
the  government,  and  that  morality  can  not  exist  with- 
out religion  for  its  basis.  Let  us  revere  the  Christian 
system  as  essential  to  our  temporal  prosperity  and  to 
our  immortal  hopes.  If  the  American  people,  com- 
prehending in  this  spirit  the  rights  which  the  repub- 
lic confers  on  them  and  the  duties  which  they  owe  to 


THE   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT.  381 

the  republic,  prove  faithful  to  their  great  trust,  the 
illimitable  future  which  opens  upon  our  country  will 
be  glorious.  It  will  exhibit  a  picture  of  power,  of 
grandeur,  and  of  freedom  far  transcending  any  which 
the  world  has  yet  produced;  we  shall  realize  the  no- 
ble vision  which  filled  the  mind  of  an  English  writer: 
"The  possible  destiny  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, as  a  nation  of  two  hundred  millions  of  freemen, 
stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  living 
under  the  laws  of  Alfred,  and  speaking  the  language 
of  Shakspeare  and  Milton,  is  an  august  conception." 
Let  us  be  true  to  ourselves ;  let  us  preserve  the  Un- 
ion, and  we  need  not  yield  to  the  apprehensions  which 
some  express  that  our  political  system,  so  new  and 
complex,  will  encounter  the  disasters  which  have 
overthrown  the  republics  of  antiquity.  These  gloomy 
predictions,  uttered  by  those  who  see  so  many  clouds 
resting  on  the  future,  and  who  have  no  faith  in  the 
stability  of  human  institutions,  may  well  be  disre- 
garded while  we  turn  to  the  beautiful  and  philosoph- 
ical remark  of  Edmund  Burke,  which  occurs  in  one 
of  his  letters  on  a  regicide  peace. 

"I  am  not  of  the  mind  of  those  speculators  who 
seem  assured  that  all  states  have  the  same  periods  of 
infancy,  manhood,  and  decrepitude  that  are  found  in 
individuals.  Parables  of  this  sort  rather  furnish 
similitudes  to  illustrate  or  adorn  than  to  supply  an- 
alogies from  which  to  reason.  Individuals  are  phys- 
ical beings ;  commonwealths  are  "  not  physical,  but 
moral  essences." 

We  are  yet  in  the  freshness  of  our  youth ;  our 
country, .  the  latest  born  of  the  great  nations,  is  like 


382  THE   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

the  youngest  daughter  of  King  Lear,  the  fairest  of 
the  sisters : 

"  Ah !  mayst  thou  ever  be  what  now  thou  art, 
Nor  unbeseem  the  promise  of  thy  spring." 

The  horoscope  which  shone  so  resplendently  over 
thy  birth,  O  my  country,  announced  a  glorious  desti- 
ny. This  day  witnesses  its  grand  fulfillment.  Berke- 
ley's vision,  revealed  in  poetic  measures,  is  fully  real- 
ized— 

"  Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

A  powerful  nation,  in  the  full  vigor  of  her  youth, 
unfurls  the  banner  of  freedom,  and  its  mighty  folds 
float  over  a  continent ;  thrown  out  at  first  against  a 
stormy  sky,  and  in  defiance  of  tyrants,  it  is  bathed 
to-day  in  the  light  of  peace ;  the  eyes  of  all  mankind 
are  fixed  upon  it  as  the  sign  of  hope.  Shall  it  be 
rent  asunder?  Shall  its  stars  be  quenched  and  its 
folds  droop  ?  Shall  it  live  in  the  memory  of  mart 
kind  only  as  the  sign  of  fallen  power  and  departed 
glory  ?  No !  No,  let  it  float  forever,  the  standard 
of  a  republic  the  proudest,  the  happiest,  the  greatest 
which  the  world  has  ever  beheld. 

Let  the  sun,  as  he  rises  out  of  the  Atlantic  wave, 
gild  it  with  his  morning  beam ;  let  him  throw  his 
parting  splendor  upon  it  as  he  sinks  beneath  the 
placid  waters  of  the  Pacific,  its  gorgeous  folds  still 
streaming  with  undiminished  lustre  over  states  free, 
powerful  and  prosperous,  associated  in  a  Union  as 
indissoluble  as  it  is  glorious. 


CHAELES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

AN  ORATION  DELIVERED  IN  THE  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL,  BEFORE  THE 
LEGISLATURE  OF  ALABAMA  AND  THE  CITIZENS  OF  TUSCALOOSA,  DE- 
CEMBER 7th,  1832. 

THE  spectacle  before  us  declares  that  this  is  an  oc- 
casion of  no  common  interest.  It  is  no  ordinary 
event  which  has  hushed  the  hum  of  business,  and 
chilled  the  active  current  of  life ;  which  has  touched 
the  voice  of  music  with  sadness ;  which  has  assem- 
bled us  by  a  spontaneous  impulse,  the  aged,  and  the 
middle-aged,  and  the  young ;  which  has  clothed  the 
executive  of  the  state  and  its  whole  representation, 
and  the  various  honorable  orders  among  us,  with  the 
habiliments  of  mourning.  It  is  not  one  of  those 
events  which  touches  the  feelings  and  speaks  to  the 
affections  of  a  single  heart  only,  but  which  calls  upon 
a  nation  to  rise  up,  as  one  family,  and  mourn.  The 
Angel  of  Death  has  touched  a  chord  to  which  mill- 
ions of  hearts  vibrate ;  we  have  lost  a  common  fa- 
ther, and,  as  children  of  the  republic,  we  have  come 
up  together  to  do  honor  to  his  memory.  If  ever  any 
occasion  deserved  to  be  honored  with  services  like 
these,  it  is  the  present.  For  deep  and  thrilling  in- 
terest, and  for  moral  grandeur,  it  has  scarcely  a  par- 
allel in  history.  There  is  at  all  times  something 
touching  in  the  simplest  tribute  which  is  laid  at  the 
grave  of  virtue.  It  is  a  noble  and  wisely-ordered  fac- 
ulty of  our  nature,  which  forbids  us  to  look  with  in- 


384      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

difference  even  upon  the  frail  flower  which  the  soli- 
tary mourner  teaches  to  spring  above  the  humble 
resting-place  of  one  whose  memory  is  precious.  This 
feeling  has  its  foundation  deep  in  the  human  heart. 
Its  illustrations  are  to  be  found  in  the  humble  offer- 
ings of  the  poor  at  the  shrine  of  buried  worth  and 
affection,  and  in  the  solemn  procession,  the  deep-toned 
dirge,  the  voice  of  eulogy,  and  the  lofty  column  which 
honor  and  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  great. 

And  have  we  no  offerings  to  present  on  this  day? 
Shall  we  suffer  this  occasion  to  pass  by  unnoticed, 
or  dwell  upon  it  coldly?  Not  so.  Here  is  every 
thing  to  call  forth  into  full  and  living  exercise  the 
deepest  and  purest  feelings  of  the  heart ;  there  is 
nothing  to  chill  the  ardor  of  its  best  affections  about 
the  memory  of  him  who  has  just  taken  his  leave  of 
life.  We  call  upon  the  noble  of  the  earth,  the  friends 
of  man,  the  lovers  of  civil  liberty  throughout  the 
world,  to  sympathize  with  us  in  the  scenes  of  this 
day.  The  lustre  which  the  life  of  him  whom  we 
mourn  sheds  upon  his  tomb  is  all  pure  and  stainless. 
The  gentle  eye  of  Religion  itself  may  look  upon  it 
without  a  tear.  Truth  and  Virtue  meet  above  it  and 
embrace  each  other.  His  glory  was  not  gathered  on 
the  red  battle-field ;  he  went  not  forth,  with  waving 
banners  and  flashing  steel,  to  erect  the  temple  of  his 
fame  amid  the  ruins  of  depopulated  cities  and  deso- 
lated lands.  His  conquests  were  wrought  out  by  the 
mind,  and  the  monuments  which  mark  them  are  cov- 
ered all  over  with  an  intellectual  and  moral  glory. 

The  history  of  his  success  is  to  be  found  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  great  interests  of  the  human  fam- 


CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON.      385 

ily.  When  the  marble  which  lifts  its  front  to  declare 
the  glory  of  the  conqueror  shall  be  crumbling  into 
very  dust,  the  memory  of  the  patriot,  the  philanthro- 
pist, and  statesman  shall  beam  like  a  star  in  heaven, 
blessing  the  eye  of  the  beholder  throughout  all  time 
with  its  mild  but  undying  lustre.  It  becomes  us, 
then,  to  remember  and  honor  the  worth  of  Carroll. 
To  obey  this  impulse  of  nature  is  both  just  and  wise. 
To  cherish  the  memory  of  the  great  and  the  good  is 
alike  honorable  to  the  departed  and  profitable  to  the 
living.  While  we  wreathe  the  garland  of  affection 
over  the  dark  portal  of  the  tomb,  we  furnish  to  the 
surviving  the  strongest  incitement  to  glory.  On  this 
occasion,  what  a  crowd  of  recollections  press  upon  the 
heart,  and  with  what  mingled  emotions  do  we  dis- 
charge this  sacred  duty !  We  call  up  the  turbulent, 
stormy  period  of  our  country"^  history ;  we  see  before 
us  that  noble  company,  who,  pledging  every  thing 
valuable  and  dear  in  the  cause  of  their  native  land, 
and  trusting  to  the  strength  and  justice  of  omnipo- 
tent truth,  felt  that  they  were  agood  against  the 
world  in  arms."  We  ask  ourselves,  "Where  are 
they?"  and  a  voice  from  the  tomb  answers  us,  " Where 
are  they?"  They  have  fallen  into  the  sleep  that 
knows  no  waking.  We  seek  for  them  among  the 
walks  of  men,  but  we  find  them  not ;  the  places  which 
once  knew  them  know  them  no  more  forever.  They 
have  passed  into  the  world  of  spirits.  All,  all  are 
gone.  He,  the  latest  lingering  survivor  of  that  age, 
has  just  bid  us  a  long  farewell ;  Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrollton,  is  no  more ! 

He  who  lately  stood  among  us  like  some  ancient 

BB 


386      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

ruin,  grand  even  aniid  its  decay,  bearing  itself  up 
proudly  under  the  ravages  of  time,  a  noble  monument 
of  an  age  gone  by,  is  at  last  leveled  with  the  dust. 
But  we  have  not  come  up  here  to  mourn  with  bitter- 
ness. He  had  lived  far  beyond  the  ordinary  allot- 
ment of  nature ;  we  would  not  recall  him  from  his 
rest. 

After  a  long  life  of  good  deeds,  surrounded  with 
blessings,  in  the  bosom  of  a  great  and  happy  family, 
he  has  gathered  up  his  feet  in  peace,  and  gone  to  his 
fathers.  You  have  looked  upon  the  sun  when  he 
cometh  forth  in  the  east,  rejoicing  in  kingly  splendor, 
and  traveling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength,  and 
pouring  his  flood  of  glorious  golden  light  upon  the 
earth  throughout  a  long  summer's  day.  You  have 
seen  him  as,  his  journey  accomplished,  he  drops  his 
broad  disk  behind  the  hills  of  the  west.  "What  a 
majesty  is  there  in  his  leave-taking,  as  his  broad  beam 
streams  athwart  hill  and  dale,  and  mountain  and  val- 
ley, spreading  out  over  the  forest  a  sheet  of  gold, 
touching  the  tall  spire  with  inimitable  lustre,  and 
lighting  the  firmament  into  a  blaze  of  glory,  as  he 
draws  around  him  the  robes  of  his  splendor!  So 
calm,  so  pure,  so  bright  was  the  closing  hour  of  Car- 
roll's long  earthly  day. 

Let  us  revert  to  some  of  those  scenes  which  have 
marked  his  life  with  interest. 

Apart  from  the  individual  greatness  of  his  charac- 
ter, his  connection  with  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
events  in  our  national  history  would  be  sufficient  to 
make  him  illustrious.  Were  his  life  barren  of  inci- 
dent ;  had  there  been  no  other  act  to  rise  up  from  its 


CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON.      387 

calm  and  even  tenor  to  meet  the  gaze  of  the  world, 
saving  his  putting  his  hand  to  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, that  one  act  would  insure  to  him  immor- 
tality. "Who  might  calculate  the  extent  of  danger 
and  hazard  which  hung  like  an  angry  cloud  over  that 
scene?  Who  shall  estimate  the  amount  of  moral 
firmness  it  required  to  stake  fortune,  and  reputation, 
and  life  itself  upon  the  issue  ?  Who  shall  conjecture 
a  limit  to  the  influence  it  has  exerted  upon  the  polit- 
ical condition  of  the  whole  world  ? 

We  look  forth  upon  the  terrible  face  of  battle, 
Tvhere  nation  arms  to  strive  with  nation ;  we  see  the 
gorgeous  ensigns  floating  high  above  the  conflicting 
ranks,  the  waving  plumes,  the  glittering  steel;  we 
mark  the  impetuous  onset,  the  sweeping  charge  ;  the 
deep  thunder  of  the  cannon  comes  to  us  mingled  with 
the  shouts  of  men,  while,  amid  the  shock  of  host 
rushing  against  host,  kings  themselves  turn  pale  with 
fear,  and  Death  revels  in  the  treading  down  of  hu- 
man life.  What  gives  to  this  scene  its  deepest  inter- 
est, and  why  does  the  patriot  await  the  result  with 
suspended  respiration  and  pale  cheek  ?  Because  upon 
the  issue  hangs  the  fate  of  his  country.  If  victory 
light  upon  his  standard,  his  altar  and  his  fireside  are 
safe.  What  a  grandeur,  then,  gathers  about  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  regarded  in  this  view,  and 
how  far,  in  the  importance  of  its  results,  does  it  out- 
strip the  scenes  of  battle !  Not  the  destiny  of  one 
nation,  nor  the  hopes  of  one  people  only  hung  upon 
it.  It  cast  its  influence  not  upon  one  age  only,  but 
the  destiny  of  the  world,  the  entire  cause  of  mankind, 
the  interests  of  generations,  these  were  moved  at  its 


388      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

going  forth.  To  have  been  an  actor  in  that  scene 
entitles  one  to  all  praise,  and  secures  to  his  memory 
ceaseless  regard. 

Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrojlton,  was  born  in  Annap- 
olis, in  Maryland,  on  the  8th  of  September  (O.S.), 
1737.  When  very  young,  he  was  taken  to  the  col- 
lege of  English  Jesuits  at  St.  Omer's,  and  entered 
there,  where  he  remained  until  his  fourteenth  year, 
when  he  was  removed  to  a  college  of  French  Jesuits 
at  Kheims.  There  he  remained  but  a  single  year, 
and  was  again  removed  to  the  college  of  Louis  le 
Grand,  where  the  two  following  years  of  his  life  were 
passed.  Having  employed  one  year  in  Bourges  (the 
capital  of  the  province  of  Berry)  in  the  study  of  the 
civil  law,  he  returned  to  college  at  Paris,  and  there 
continued  until  his  twentieth  year,  at  which  time  he 
visited  London,  and,  taking  apartments  in  the  Tem- 
ple, commenced  the  study  of  the  law.  In  1764,  when 
twenty-seven  years  of  age,  he  returned  home. 

These  early  advantages  fitted  him  for  acting  in  the 
turbulent  scenes  which  then  distracted  his  country. 
The  controversy  between  Great  Britain  and  her  col- 
onies had  begun  to  assume  an  angry  aspect.  The 
Stamp  Act,  in  1776,  had  excited  much  indignation. 
It  had  waked  up  among  the  people  a  wholesome 
spirit  of  investigation  ;  the  relations  of  the  countries 
were  examined;  their  reciprocal  rights  and  duties 
subjected  to  inquiry.  Among  those  who  were  most 
active  in  distributing  intelligence  was  Charles  Car- 
roll. He  employed  his  pen  ably  and  successfully  un- 
til the  offensive  act,  which  had  given  an  impulse  to 
the  spirit  of  inquiry,  was  repealed,  and  quiet  restored 


CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON.      389 

to  the  country.  About  this  time  there  were  in  Mary- 
land some  local  topics  which  excited  much  interest. 
As  usual  at  that  period,  the  contest  was  between  the 
people  and  their  rulers.  Mr.  Carroll  stood  with  the 
people,  and  acquired,  for  an  assumed,  name  under 
which  he  wrote  in  advocating  their  rights,  great  ce- 
lebrity. He  is  said  to  have  displayed  in  that  contest 
singular  firmness  and  decision,  and  to  have  developed 
an  intellect  of  great  strength.  When  this  fictitious 
name  became  identified  with  Mr.  Carroll,  it  at  once 
raised  him  high  in  the  regards  of  the  people.  In  all 
their  future  controversies,  they  looked  up  to  him  as 
an  advocate  and  a  leader. 

He  is  said  to  have  displayed  great  activity  in  pro- 
jecting and  supporting  the  measures  at  that  time 
employed  in  opposing  the  colonial  policy  of  Great 
Britain.  The  current  of  events  was  assuming  a  dark, 
turbulent,  and  angry  look.  Every  power  was  brought 
by  this  great  man  into  the  service  of  his  own  native, 
injured  land ;  all  was  hazarded  in  her  behalf. 

He  was  no  superficial  observer.  He  looked  deep 
into  the  broad  and  eternal  principles  of  human  life. 
He  paid  no  servile  homage  to  power ;  his  opinions 
were  not  to  be  bought  with  the  luxuries,  or  shackled 
by  the  strength  of  kingly  authority.  He  read  at 
once  the  issue  of  the  contest,  and,  trusting  to  the 
deathless  power  of  right,  he  cast  himself  at  once  upon 
the  tide,  ready  and  willing  to  abide  the  result.  Let 
us  appreciate  the  nobleness  of  this  conduct — let  us 
contemplate  and  value  its  greatness.  Bred  up  with- 
in the  dominions  of  kings,  educated  among  a  people 
who  looked  with  awe  and  admiration  upon  royal 


390      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

splendor,  possessing  immense  wealth,  which  connect- 
ed him  with  the  noble,  the  titled,  and  the  powerful, 
he  laid  his  all  freely  upon  the  altar  of  his  country's 
good.  This  is  no  common  achievement ;  it  required 
a  lofty  spirit  and  a  great  mind  to  accomplish  it.  By 
some,  the  course  of  the  colonies  was  censured;  by 
some,  the  cause  was  regarded  as  hopeless ;  while  oth- 
ers supposed  the  excitement  and  the  troubles  evanes- 
cent. But  Mr.  Carroll  saw  in  these  early  discon- 
tents but  the  shadows  of  great  events  and  the  begin- 
ning of  evil. 

It  is  reported  of  him  that,  in  a  conversation  with 
Mr.  Chase,  perhaps  in  1772,  that  gentleman  remark- 
ed to  him,  "  "We  have  completely  written  down  our 
opponents."  Mr.  Carroll's  reply  illustrates  his  dis- 
cernment :  "  And  do  you  think,"  said  he,  "that  writ- 
ing will  settle  the  question  between  us  ?"  u  Surely," 
replied  Mr.  Chase;  "what  else  can  we  resort  to?" 
"The  bayonet, "was  the  answer.  "Our  arguments 
will  only  raise  the  feelings  of  the  people  to  that  pitch 
when  open  war  will  be  looked  for  as  the  mode  of  set- 
tling the  dispute." 

And  there  is  another  incident  highly  creditable 
both  to  the  sagacity  and  firmness  of  Mr.  Carroll. 
Previous  to  the  commencement  of  actual  hostilities 
some  years,  Mr.  Graves,  a  member  of  Parliament, 
wrote  to  him  on  the  subject  of  the  disturbances  in 
America,  treating  with  ridicule  the  idea  of  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  colonies,  and  declaring  that  six 
thousand  English  soldiers  would  march  from  one  end 
of  the  continent  to  the  other.  "So  they  may,"  was 
his  reply,  "but  they  will  be  masters  of  the  spot  only 


CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON.      391 

on  which  they  encamp.  They  will  find  naught  but 
enemies  before  them  and  around  them.  If  we  are 
beaten  on  the  plains,  we  will  retreat  to  the  mount- 
ains and  defy  them.  Our  resources  will  increase 
with  our  difficulties.  Necessity  will  force  us  to  ex- 
ertion, until,  tired  of  combating  in  vain  against  a 
spirit  which  victory  after  victory  can  not  subdue, 
your  armies  will  evacuate  our  soil,  and  your  country 
retire  an  immense  loser  from  the  contest.  No,  sir, 
we  have  made  up  our  minds  to  abide  the  issue  of  the 
approaching  struggle,  and,  though  much  blood  may 
be  spilled,  we  have  no  doubt  of  our  ultimate  success." 
The  ability  and  spirit  which  Mr.  Carroll  had  dis- 
played on  various  occasions  obtained  for  him  the  con- 
fidence of  his  countrymen,  and  caused  him  to  be  re- 
garded as  one  worthy  to  guide  and  control  in  the 
troubled  scenes  of  the  time.  We  could  linger  with 
much  satisfaction  over  many  of  the  incidents  of  his 
life  about  this  period,  but  the  occasion  permits  us  to 
present  only  a  few  of  the  more  prominent. 

We  find  Mr.  Carroll,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1776,  an  anxious  spectator  of  the  proceedings,  truly 
momentous,  of  the  General  Congress,  then  sitting  in 
Philadelphia.  That  body,  having  determined  to  in- 
vite Canada  to  join  the  provinces  in  resisting  Great 
Britain,  appointed  him  a  commissioner  to  proceed, 
in  company  with  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Samuel 
Chase,  to  that  country,  and  urge  the  measure.  The 
very  extensive  powers  conferred  on  the  commission- 
ers, and  the  immensely  important  interests  confided 
to  their  care,  illustrate  the  extent  of  Mr.  Carroll's 
reputation,  and  the  value  attached  to  it.  This  effort, 


392      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

from  a  variety  of  causes  quite  beyond  the  control  of 
the  commissioners,  resulted  unsuccessfully,  and  Mr. 
Carroll  returned  to  Philadelphia  while  the  great  sub- 
ject of  independence  was  under  discussion.  The  rep- 
resentatives from  Maryland  had  received  express  in- 
structions from  its  Convention,  held  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  preceding  year,  to  disavow  in  the  most  solemn 
manner  all  design  in  the  colonies  of  independence. 
These  shackles  Mr.  Carroll  regarded  as  odious,  and 
went  forthwith  to  Annapolis,  took  his  seat  in  the 
Convention,  and  urged  the  immediate  withdrawal  of 
these  instructions.  How  striking  is  the  attitude  in 
which  we  now  behold  him !  The  other  colonies  on 
the  point  of  declaring  themselves  free  and  independ- 
ent, and  he  urging  his  native  colony  not  to  be  out- 
stripped in  the  career  of  glory.  An  hour's  delay 
might  rivet  her  fetters,  and  suffer  that  tide  in  her  af- 
fairs which  would  lead  her  on  to  glorious  fortune  to 
pass  by— to  flow  no  more.  His  efforts  were  blessed 
and  prevailed,  and  on  the  2d  of  July,  1776,  in  the 
language  of  his  biographer,  u  the  delegates  of  Mary- 
land found  themselves  authorized  to  vote  for  inde- 
pendence!" 

He  was  now  appointed  a  delegate  to  Congress,  and 
on  the  eighteenth  of  July  he  took  his  seat.  On  the 
nineteenth,  a  resolution  was  passed  directing  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  to  be  engrossed  on  parch- 
ment, that  it  might  be  signed  by  the  members.  This 
being  done,  Mr.  Carroll  was  among  the  earliest  who 
affixed  their  signatures.  Let  us  pause  for  a  moment 
and  contemplate  that  scene.  What  an  assemblage 
is  here — how  collected — how  full  of  dignity — how 


CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON.      393 

vast  the  subject  of  their  deliberations,  and  what  a 
lofty  spirit  they  bring  to  the  investigation!  How 
many  would  have  advised  the  inglorious  part  of  safety 
and  submission.  But  there  are  moments  when  the 
poor  counsels  of  the  timid  are  despised ;  when  the 
spirit  of  the  patriot  lifts  itself  up,  and  shaking  from 
around  it  the  shackles  which  would  bind  it,  and 
turning  his  glance  from  the  dangers  and  clouds  which 
lower  upon  the  scenes  around  him,  looks  into  the  far 
future,  and  sees  in  its  brightness  and  glory  a  full  re- 
ward for  his  hazards  and  his  toils. 

It  is  said,  when  Mr.  Hancock  asked  Mr.  Carroll  if 
he  would  sign,  he  replied,  "Most  willingly.1'  As  he 
approached  the  desk  of  the  secretary  and  affixed  his 
name  to  the  Declaration,  some  one  in  the  lobby,  ap- 
prehensive of  an  unfortunate  termination  of  the  con- 
test, and  anticipating  the  confiscation  of  property 
which  must  follow,  exclaimed,  "There  goes  half  a 
million  at  the  dash  of  a  pen !"  But  no :  u  there's  a 
Divinity  which  shapes  our  ends."  True,  he  risked 
much— more;  perhaps,  than  any  other  man — but  he 
lost  nothing. 

Mr.  Carroll  remained  in  Congress  until  1778,  when 
he  returned  home  to  give  his  services  to  his  native 
state,  to  which  he  seems  to  have  been  deeply,  attached. 
In  the  year  1788,  however,  we  find  him  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  immediately  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution.  In  two  years  he  va- 
cated his  seat,  and,  retiring  once  more  to  his  native 
state,  engaged  in  local  politics  until  1801,  when  his 
public  life  closed,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three. 

The  remainder  of  his  life  was  passed  in  peaceful, 


394      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

and  dignified,  and  happy  retirement.  He  enjoyed  a 
richer  reward  than  ordinarily  falls  to  the  lot  of  man. 
He  lived  to  see  the  work  of  his  hands  established. 
He  saw  growing  up  around  him  a  great,  virtuous,  and 
happy  family.  He  saw  them  spreading  themselves 
out  from  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  foot  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  carrying  with  them  the  arts  of  civ- 
ilized life,  and  laying  deep  the  foundations  of  a  great, 
and  good,  and  enduring  government.  A  beneficent 
Providence  lengthened  out  his  days,  and  permitted 
him  to  survive  all  who  acted  with  him  in  the  great 
and  illustrious  scene  of  his  life.  He  saw  them  fall 
around  him  one  by  one,  until,  forsaken  by  those  of 
his  own  day,  he  felt  himself  standing  amid  a  new  gen- 
eration. Let  us  visit  him  at  his  fireside :  we  see  him 
surrounded  by  the  elegances  of  life,  receiving  the  ca- 
resses of  his  children  and  his  children's  children,  while, 
bending  over  the  circle,  Religion  sheds  her  holy  light. 
When,  about  to  take  leave  of  earth,  he  turned  his  eye 
for  the  last  time  upon  its  scenes,  what  was  the  sight 
which  met  his  dying  vision?  Glorious  beyond  de- 
scription. He  saw  the  broad  lands  about  him  soon 
covered  with  smiling  fields,  the  forest  giving  back  be- 
fore the  wave  of  population ;  the  institutions  of  his 
country  striking  their  roots  deep  and  spreading  their 
branches  wide.  He  saw  that  broad  banner,  which  he 
had  stretched  out  an  arm  to  raise  in  the  dark  day  of 
doubt  and  danger,  when  hostile  bayonets  bristled  all 
around  it,  now  floating  high  above  proud,  happy,  and 
free  states,  undimmed  by  the  smoke  of  war,  unstain- 
ed by  the  blood  of  battle,  but  covered  all  over  with 
the  blessed  light  of  peace. 


CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON.      395 

We  are  here  on  this  day  to  bid  a  last  farewell  to  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Hence- 
forth they  are  not  associated  with  the  scenes  of  earth; 
their  deeds  have  passed  into  history ;  they  belong  to 
a  brighter  world.  Farewell  illustrious  men.  You 
can  never  pass  from  our  hearts. 

Let  us  cherish  their  memory.  When  a  truly  great 
man  falls,  the  nation  should  honor  him ;  they  should 
hang  their  garlands  about  his  urn ;  all  that  can  be 
done  to  make  his  fame  enduring  should  be  done  free- 
ly. The  memory  of  such  men  constitutes  the  moral 
property  of  the  nation,  and  when  her  fleets  and  ar- 
mies are  scattered  and  torn — when  her  cities  are  lev- 
eled with  the  dust — when  all  her  other  monuments 
are  crumbling  beneath  the  march  of  Time,  then  the 
memory  of  her  great  and  good  will  stand  unmoved 
amid  the  wrecks  around,  telling  to  all  generations  the 
story  of  her  greatness,  and  encouraging  man  through- 
out all  time  to  good  deeds. 

This  forms  a  new  and  interesting  era  in  our  history. 
It  furnishes  fit  occasion  for  surveying  the  scenes 
around  us.  What  place  do  we  occupy  among  the  na- 
tions, and  for  what  are  we  responsible  ?  This  coun- 
try is  regarded  as  the  last  refuge  of  freedom,  its  only 
home  upon  the  whole  earth ;  the  eyes  of  the  world 
are  turned  upon  us ;  with  us  the  cause  of  all  mankind 
rests.  The  friends  of  man  in  every  nation  look  to  us 
with  anxious  hope,  and  implore  us  to  be  faithful  to 
the  great  trust  j  the  memory  of  the  great  and  the  good 
throughout  all  ages  supplicates  us ;  the  noble  army 
of  martyrs  in  the  cause  of  humanity  stretch  out  their 
hands  to  us ;  the  blood  and  toil  of  our  fathers  cry 


396      CHARLES  CARROLL,  OF  CARROLLTON. 

aloud  to  us ;  all,  all  entreat  us  to  preserve  the  spirit 
of  Liberty;  they  admonish  us  by  the  wrecks  of  for. 
mer  times ;  and  they  bid  us,  by  all  the  blood  pourea 
out  like  water  in  the  great  cause,  not  to  forsake  it. 

If  the  cause  of  freedom  goes  down  here,  it  is  in  the 
dust  throughout  the  world — it  is  driven  back  forever: 
lost  are  the  hopes  of  mankind ;  vain  the  suiferings 
and  toils  of  patriots ;  vain  the  blood  of  martyrs.  Let 
these  things  inspire  us ;  let  us  tell  the  patriots  who, 
amid  the  dark  systems  of  other  lands,  bend  their  gaze 
upon  us,  that  we  will  be  faithful. 

Look  around  you:  there  is  every  thing  to  stimulate 
patriotism.  If  the  poor  inhabitant  of  a  land  frozen 
with  eternal  winter,  or  scorched  by  a  burning  sun, 
where  the  scanty  vegetation  which  Nature  yields 
scarcely  supplies  his  wants,  and  where  a  system  of 
bondage  pollutes  his  soil,  and  grinds  him  and  his  chil- 
dren into  the  dust,  still  loves  his  native  hills,  and  the 
scenes  where  his  eyes  first  beheld  the  light,  and  the 
valleys  which  witnessed  the  sports  of  his  boyhood, 
shall  the  feeling  sleep  in  our  bosoms  ?  Here,  where 
the  bounties  of  Nature  come  forth  almost  spontane- 
ously, where  smiling  Plenty  blesses  all,  and  where, 
amid  the  pleasant  breezes  of  a  healthful  clime,  we  may 
look  upon  our  kindred,  free  and  happy,  and  meet 
them  undisturbed  in  the  temple  of  God,  here  let  love 
of  country  abound. 

God  grant  that  these  blessings  may  not  be  lost  to 
us  or  our  children ;  but  that  the  light  of  liberty  which 
shines  over  our  happy  land  may  yet  spread  itself  out, 
until  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth  rejoice  beneath 
its  beam. 


THE  DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  HARRISON. 

AN  ORATION  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  CITIZENS  OF  MONTGOMERY,  ALA- 
BAMA, APRIL  21st,  1841. 

ANTONY,  when  standing  by  the  body  of  his  murder- 
ed friend,  in  the  presence  of  the  Roman  people,  ex- 
claimed, 

"  I  come  to  bury  Caesar,  not  to  praise  him." 

And  yet  there  was  that  in  the  history  of  Caesar  which 
afforded  an  ample  field  for  eulogy.  He  had  borne 
the  eagles  of  his  country  in  triumph  over  every  quar- 
ter of  the  globe,  and  had  planted  them  upon  lands  till 
then  unknown;  he  had  poured  the  wealth  of  broad 
and  fertile  provinces  into  the  lap  of  the  Imperial  City, 
and  had  reared  in  it  a  colossal  power  which  gave  law 
to  the  world,  and  which  gathered  from  tributary  na- 
tions whatever  was  beautiful,  or  rich,  or  rare  in  the 
productions  of  nature  or  in  the  works  of  art,  where- 
with to  deck  her  own  imperious  brow.  But  Antony 
felt  that,,  in  the  presence  of  his  countrymen,  he  could 
not  without  apology  speak  of  the  virtues  of  his  friend, 
for  they  all  knew  that,  after  having  enriched  Ilome 
and  made  her  glorious,  he  would  have  clothed  him- 
self with  unchecked  authority,  and  have  ruled  as  per- 
petual dictator. 

On  this  occasion,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the 
American  people,  assembled  to  pay  a  melancholy  of- 
fering to  the  memory  of  our  late  venerable  and  illus- 
trious chief  magistrate,  I  may  well  speak  of  his  vir- 


398  THE   DEATH    OF    PEESIDENT   HARRISON. 

tues;  there  is  nothing  to  check  the  tribute  which 
gushes  from  our  hearts.  He  fell  not  beneath  the 
blow  of  indignant  patriotism  striking  for  an  injured 
country.  He  had  worn  the  helmet  in  her  service ; 
he  had  fought  beneath  her  standard  when  the  smoke 
of  battle  covered  it,  and  hostile  bayonets  bristled 
about  it ;  he  had  sat  in  her  high  councils ;  and, 
when  he  had  served  her  long  and  well,  he  retired  to 
his  own  quiet  home,  and  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of 
agriculture.  But  he  was  called  to  quit  his  retire- 
ment, and  take  that  lofty  station  where  he  must  guide 
the  vast  and  complicated  concerns  of  a  great  people, 
and  he  yielded  to  the  voice  of  his  country.  He  had 
girded  himself  for  the  task,  and  had,  with  the  hand 
of  a  master,  sketched  the  broad,  clear  chart  of  his 
course  ;  and,  while  the  shouts  of  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  yet  resounded  in  hearty  congratulations 
— while  the  ear  that  heard  him  blessed  him,  and  the 
eye  that  saw  him  bore  witness  to  him — in  that  very 
hour  the  gentle  hand  of  his  Maker  was  laid  upon 
him,  and  he  fell  asleep  in  death.  His  heart  was  true 
to  his  country  while  the  tide  of  life  coursed  through 
it.  Unlike  the  Roman,  who  fell  while  clothing  him- 
self with  the  purple,  the  last  sentiment  that  escaped 
his  lips  was  the  aspiration  that  the  great  principles 
of  constitutional  liberty  might  be  carried  out. 

While,  then,  we  bury  him,  let  us  speak  of  his  vir- 
tues ;  let  not 

"  The  good  be  interred  with  his  bones  ;" 

let  us  cherish  the  memory  of  his  noble  qualities,  and 

"  Bequeath  it,  as  a  rich  legacy, 
Unto  our  issue." 


THE    DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   HARRISON.  399 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  government, 
the  country  has  been  called  to  mourn  the  death  of  its 
chief  magistrate.  An  event  in  itself  so  solemn 
strikes  upon  the  heart  of  the  nation  with  the  greater 
force  from  its  suddenness.  A  whole  people,  who  but 
yesterday  were  rejoicing,  to-day  are  clad  in  mourn- 
ing. In  every  part  of  our  extended  country,  from 
the  splendid  mansions  of  the  rich  and  the  great  to 
the  humble  cabins  of  the  poor,  may  be  seen  the  signs 
of  grief,  and  every  where,  upon  the  land  and  upon 
the  sea,  our  drooping  standard  tells  the  story  of  a 
nation's  sorrow. 

Nor  is  all  this  a  tribute  paid  to  the  station  alone ; 
it  is  the  character  of  the  man  who  filled  that  station 
that  deepens  the  dirge  which  swells  through  our  val- 
leys and  over  our  mountain-tops.  True,  these  United 
States  have  lost  their  president,  but  that  president 
was  William  Henry  Harrison. 

I  shall  not  be  expected  to-day  to  enter  at  length 
upon  the  history  of  that  illustrious  man ;  the  coun- 
try knows  "it  by  heart.  But  yet  it  is  so  full  of  in- 
struction, and  has  in  it  so  much  to  encourage  virtue, 
that  I  should  not  be  pardoned  if  I  were  to  pass  it  by 
altogether.  It  is  impossible  to  forget,  while  we  trace 
his  career  from  early  youth  up  to  the  last  moment  of 
his  life,  that  he  was  guided  throughout  by  a  high  prin- 
ciple, which  never  listened  to  temptation,  and  never 
shrunk  from  danger.  He  was  cradled  amid  the 
storms  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  bred  up  by  one 
of  those  immortal  men  who  put  their  hands  to  that 
instrument  which  declared  subject  colonies  to  be  free 
and  independent  states,  and  who  pledged  to  the 


400  THE   DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    HARRISON. 

cause  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred 
honor. 

In  every  department  of  life  to  which  he  was  after- 
ward called,  he  showed  that  the  lessons  of  his  child- 
hood had  not  been  lost  upon  him. 

In  the  year  1791,  our  northwestern  borders  were 
subject  to  the  invasion  of  a  ruthless  enemy,  who  not 
only  plundered,  but  desolated  with  fire  and  sword. 
The  disastrous  details  of  this  conflagration  and  rapine 
spread  over  the  whole  country,  and  excited  great  in- 
dignation. 

"William  Henry  Harrison,  then  a  stripling  of  eight- 
een years,  though  engaged  in  professional  studies,  at 
once  abandoned  them.  He  received  from  the  hands 
of  "Washington  the  commission  of  an  ensign  in  the 
United  States  Artillery,  and  hastened  to  that  part  of 
our  frontier  known  in  the  descriptive  language  of  the 
times  as  "the  dark  and  bloody  ground."  Here  he 
commenced  his  career.  He  rose  rapidly ;  he  was 
promoted  to  lieutenant;  he  fought  beneath  the  eye 
of  Anthony  Wayne,  that  commander  so  full  of  cour- 
age and  energy,  whose  discipline  was  as  strict  as  his 
daring  was  great ;  and  he  attracted  his  notice,  for,  at 
the  age  of  nineteen,  he  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  aids 
of  that  distinguished  general.  In  the  desperate  bat- 
tle of  Miami  he  won  laurels,  and  rose  presently  to 
the  rank  of  a  captain.  He  was  now  honored  with 
the  most  important  trusts ;  but  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1797,  there  being  no  longer  war  to  employ  his 
active  services,  he  left  the  army,  and  commenced  his 
civil  career.  He  received  the  important  appointment 
of  secretary  and  lieutenant  governor  of  the  North- 


THE   DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   HARRISON.  401 

western  Territory,  and  so  ably  and  faithfully  did  he 
discharge  the  duties  of  his  station,  that  he  was  cho- 
sen the  next  year  as  the  first  representative  of  that 
country  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  He 
had  won  reputation  as  a  soldier,  but  he  took  high 
rank  now  as  a  sound  and  wise  statesman.  With  that 
benevolence  which  was  ever  a  part  of  his  nature,  he 
brought  about  that  important  change  in  the  land  sys- 
tem which  enabled  the  poor  pioneer,  who  had  gather- 
ed about  him  his  little  family  and  had  penetrated  the 
wilderness,  to  buy  a  home.  The  next  year  Mr.  Har- 
rison was  appointed  to  what  was  then  a  most  impor- 
tant and  perilous  post,  governor  of  the  Territory 
known  then  as  Indiana,  and  was  clothed  with  almost 
unlimited  power  over  that  vast  region.  He  perform- 
ed the  trying  duties  of  the  station  with  unsurpassed 
ability,  and,  though  the  opportunities  for  amassing 
wealth  were  all  around  him,  he  refused  them  all,  for 
he  felt  that  a  participation  in  such  speculations  would 
be  a  violation  of  his  public  trust.  His  power,  great 
already,  was  augmented  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  ap- 
pointed him  sole  commissioner  to  treat  with  the  In- 
dians, and  under  this  authority  he  obtained  for  his 
country  more  than  sixty  millions  of  acres.  For  thir- 
teen years  he  was  reappointed  to  the  same  high  trust, 
and  during  that  period,  at  the  head  of  the  army, 
fought  the  celebrated  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  a  fierce 
and  bloody  engagement,  which  was  conducted  with 
the  utmost  spirit  and  skill.  President  Madison,  in 
speaking  of  it  in  his  message  to  Congress,  says, 
u  While  it  is  deeply  to  be  lamented  that  so  many 
valuable  lives  have  been  lost  in  the  action  which  took 

Co 


402  THE   DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    HARRISON. 

place  on  the  9th  ultimo  [November,  1812],  Congress 
will  see  with  satisfaction  the  dauntless  spirit  and  for- 
titude victoriously  displayed  by  every  description  of 
troops  engaged,  as  wrell  as  the  collected  firmness  which 
distinguished  their  commander,  on  an  occasion  re- 
quiring the  utmost  exertion  of  valor  and  discipline." 

About  this  time  our  second  war  with  Great  Brit- 
ain opened,  and  Governor  Harrison  rendered  the  most 
important  services  in  putting  the  entire  northwestern 
frontier  in  a  state  of  defense.  Illinois  and  Kentucky 
both  sought  his  aid  and  shared  his  solicitude  ;  and  so 
high  did  he  stand  in  the  public  regard,  that  in  his 
visits  he  was  received  with  the  acclamations  of  the 
people,  and  the  highest  honors  were  heaped  upon 
him. 

Some  evidence  of  the  state  of  the  public  feeling 
toward  him  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  when 
General  "Winchester,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  a 
brave  ofiicer,  was  put  in  chief  command  of  the  army, 
the  troops  would  not  march  under  him,  but  called  for 
their  favorite  commander,  General  Harrison ;  and  the 
President,  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, appointed  him  commander-in-chief  of  the  north- 
western army. 

Here  followed  a  brilliant  series  of  services.  The 
deep  gloom  which  hung  over  our  western  borders  be- 
gan to  brighten ;  the  brave  caught  new  enthusiasm, 
the  timid  became  resolute,  and  the  standard  of  our 
country,  which  had  been  trailing  in  the  dust,  was  up- 
held by  the  arm  of  Harrison,  and  borne  high  arnid 
the  gloom  of  battle  till  the  light  of  glory  covered  it. 
The  British  army,  up  to  this  time  flushed  with  sue- 


THE    DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    HARRISON.  403 

cess,  gave  back  before  the  indomitable  energy  of  re- 
inspirited  troops,  who  pursued  them  into  their  own 
territory,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  repaired  all 
past  reverses,  and  established  the  glory  of  American 
arms. 

But  it  is  needless  to  dwell  on  the  military  history 
of  General  Harrison ;  nor,  indeed,  could  we  compress 
it  into  so  brief  a  space.  He  would  have  glory  enough 
had  he  never  set  a  squadron  in  the  field.  In  1816, 
he  took  his  seat  as  a  representative  from  Ohio  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  there  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  able  and  faithful  discharge  of 
his  duties.  It  was  there  that  he  gave  that  memorable 
vote  on  the  Missouri  question.  When,  in  reply  to 
a  friend,  who  told  him  he  would  ruin  himself  by  the 
vote  which  he  proposed  to  give,  he  exclaimed,  "It 
is  better  to  ruin  myself  than  to  destroy  the  Constitu- 
tion of  my  country.1' 

Like  Curtius,  who,  clothing  himself  in  his  military 
robes,  and  mounting  the  steed  which  had  borne  him 
in  battle,  plunged  into  the  chasm  which  was  yawn- 
ing to  ingulf  Rome,  but  which  closed  over  his  de- 
voted head,  the  high-souled  representative,  gathering 
about  him  all  his  honors,  and  with  the  laurels  of  vic- 
tory yet  blooming  upon  his  brow,  plunged  into  that 
abyss  which  yawned  at  his  feet,  and  threatened  to  de- 
stroy the  institutions  of  his  country.  But  uon  such 
a  sacrifice  the  gods  themselves  pour  incense."  He 
rose  strengthened.  In  1824  he  took  his  seat  as  a 

o 

senator  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1828  he  was 
appointed  by  Mr.  Adams  envoy  extraordinary  and 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  Republic  of  Colom- 


404  THE   DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   HARRISON. 

bia.  He  found  this  republic  fast  verging  to  a  mili- 
tary despotism,  and  he  made  that  appeal  to  Bolivar, 
so  full  of  noble  eloquence,  and  which  breathes  the 
very  spirit  of  liberty.  One  sentiment  in  that  address 
is  enough  to  immortalize  him :  "To  be  esteemed  em- 
inently great,  it  is  necessary  to  be  eminently  good." 

From  this  mission  it  is  well  known  that  General 
Harrison  was  soon  recalled.  Returning  to  his  home 
on  the  beautiful  banks  of  the  Ohio,  he  dwelt  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family,  and  employed  himself,  like  Cin- 
cinnatus,  in  cultivating  the  earth. 

From  this  retirement  he  was  called  by  the  Harris- 
burg  Convention,  and  from  that  time  up  to  the  mo- 
ment of  his  death  he  passed'  through  the  most  extra- 
ordinary scenes  which,  perhaps,  have  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  any  man.  I  would  not  disturb  the  sacred  solem- 
nity of  this  hour  by  any  appeal  to  the  distinctions  of 
party,  but  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  I  have  not 
found  upon  the  pages  of  history  a  parallel  for  that 
spontaneous  gushing  out  of  a  nation's  enthusiasm, 
which,  keeping  within  the  barriers  of  constitutional 
order,  swept  every  thing  before  it,  and  bore  upon  its 
bosom  the  citizen  who,  without  rank,  or  wealth,  or 
power,  stood  but  now  at  the  threshold  of  his  own 
humble  home,  up  to  the  very  highest  eminence  of  hu- 
man glory. 

A  member  of  that  body  which  placed  the  name  of 
William  Henry  Harrison  before  the  American  peo- 
ple, I  marked  the  wonderful  scene  from  its  very  be- 
ginning, and  it  seems  to  rise  before  me  like  some 
gorgeous  dream,  sweeping  through  its  rapid  changes, 
and  revealing  its  mighty  lights  and  shadows.  Alas 


THE   DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   HARRISON.  405 

that  our  glorious  leader  should  so  soon  pass  away 
into  the  darkness  of  the  tomb !  The  affections  of 
a  great  people  were  fixed  upon  him.  They  hailed 
his  nomination  to  the  highest  office  within  their  gift 
with  acclamation ;  they  gathered  about  him  in  vast 
multitudes  that  no  man  could  number ;  they  almost 
laid  aside  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life  that  they 
might  do  him  service.  Wealth,  and  genius,  and  labor, 
and  learning,  and  beauty,  gave  themselves  up  to  his 
cause,  and  the  states  of  this  great  confederacy  called 
him  to  take  that  chair  which  had  been  first  filled  by 
Washington.  The  gravity  of  the  American  charac- 
ter was  for  a  time  almost  lost  in  the  sentiment  which 
was  identified  with  the  name  of  Harrison,  and  all 
classes  of  men  hastened  to  testify  their  veneration  for 
him  whose  life  had  been  given  to  his  country,  with 
scarcely  a  thought  for  himself.  Look  for  a  moment 
at  the  multitudes  gathered  to  witness  his  inaugura- 
tion, and  say  if  in  this  country  such  a  scene  had  ever 
before  been  exhibited.  Nor  was  this  magnificent 
spectacle  called  up  by  the  power  which  was  on  that 
day  conferred  upon  General  Harrison.  The  heart 
was  in  it  all.  It  was  the  pure,  lofty,  benevolent, 
patriotic  character  of  the  man  which  created  it. 

Who,  among  the  thousands  that  on  that  occasion 
heard  the  clear,  trumpet  tones  of  his  voice  proclaim- 
ing the  principles  upon  which  his  administration 
would  be  based,  thought  that,  within  a  little  month, 
that  voice  would  be  hushed  in  death,  and  the  great 
heart,  which  beat  so  high  with  patriotic  ardor,  would 
beat  no  more. 

He  died  in  the  midst  of  his  glory.     He  had  out- 


406  THE    DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    HARRISON. 

lived  calumny ;  he  had  vindicated  himself  before  the 
World ;  and  then,  surrounded  by  some  members  of 
his  family,  and  a  few  faithful  officers  who  had  follow- 
ed him  in  the  red  path  of  battle,  and  who  had  been 
with  him  through  evil  report  and  through  good  re- 
port, he  calmly  breathed  his  last,  and  his  soul  rose, 
purified,  to  meet  the  Savior  in  whom  he  trusted. 

Farewell,  illustrious  man!  thy  memory  is  em- 
balmed. 

It  is  most  honorable  to  the  American  people  that, 
since  the  death  of  the  President,  all  political  rancor 
has  passed  away,  and  men  of  all  parties  unite  in  pay- 
ing appropriate  tributes  to  his  memory.  Throughout 
the  wide  extent  of  our  country  there  has  been  mani- 
fested a  deep  sense  of  the  national  bereavement. 

The  sympathies  of  a  whole  people  are  gathering 
about  her  who  was  the  wife  of  his  youth  and  the 
wife  of  his  old  age.  What  can  compensate  her? 
All  the  honors  which  his  country  has  heaped  upon 
him  are  as  nothing  to  her ;  she  sits  bereaved  in  the 
humble  home  from  which  they  called  him  to  his 
country's  service,  and  it  is  her  house  of  mourning. 

But  that  country  will  care  for  her. 

The  character  of  William  Henry  Harrison  belongs 
to  his  country,  and  it  will  contribute  no  small  share 
of  our  national  glory.  In  all  public  trusts  he  was 
faithful :  as  the  defender  of  his  country's  rights  in 
the  field,  he  always  bore  our  standard  to  victory;  and 
in  those  high  civil  stations  to  which  he  was  called, 
he  manifested  the  highest  concern  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  great  principles  of  constitutional  liberty. 
The  address  delivered  by  him  on  the  occasion  of  his 


THE   DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   HARRISON.  407 

taking  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of  the  United 
States  would  alone  place  him  among  the  first  of  men. 
The  lofty  patriotism  which  it  breathes,  and  the  com- 
prehensive and  just  views  which  it  presents  of  the 
Constitution,  will  give  it  rank  as  a  state  paper  of  the 
highest  order. 

When,  too,  we  regard  the  late  president  as  a  man^ 
we  venerate  him.  He  stands  out  in  the  clear  atmo- 
sphere of  truth,  and  exhibits  all  the  proportions  of 
moral  beauty.  He  was,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the 
term,  an  honest  man :  heaven's  light  did  not  visit  any 
man  of  whom  this  could  be  said  more  emphatically. 
At  this  time,  when  all  the  world's  splendor,  and 
wealth,  and  glory  have  passed  away  from  him,  how 
full  of  comfort  is  it  to  reflect  that  he  had  placed  his 
trust  in  that  Savior  who  died  to  redeem  a  lost  world. 

Through  life  he  exhibited  this  sentiment  on  many 
occasions.  The  Rev.  Mr,  Hawley  remarked  that  he 
had  "preached to  several  presidents,  but  that  General 
Harrison  was  the  first  one  he  had  ever  seen  worship 
his  Maker  on  his  knees." 

It  is  said  of  him,  too,  that  while  he  was  -on  his  way 
to  Washington,  at  the  hotel  where  he  lodged  in  Pitts- 
burg,  a  child  in  whom  he  had  manifested  much  inter- 
est was  quite  ill,  and  when,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  physician  called  on  his  little  patient,  he 
was  informed  that  General  Harrison  had  desired  to 
learn  the  condition  of  the  little  sufferer.  He  entered 
the  general's  chamber,  and  found  him  engaged  in  read- 
ing the  Bible ;  and  so  intently  was  he  looking  into  its 
sacred  pages,  that  he  did  not  perceive  the  presence  of 
the  physician  until  he  was  accosted.  Begging  par- 


408  THE   DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   HARRISON. 

don  for  the  seeming  discourtesy,  he  heard  the  report 
of  the  condition  of  his  little  friend ;  and  in  reply  to 
the  doctor's  expression  of  surprise  that  he  should  at 
this  hour  be  occupied  in  reading,  when  he  must  need 
repose  after  the  fatigues  of  a  day  passed  in  receiving 
a  great  multitude  of  visitors,  he  said,  "It  has  grown 
to  be  a  fixed  habit  with  me  now  to  read  a  portion  of 
the  Scriptures  every  night.  I  am  never  so  late  re- 
tiring, or  so  weary,  as  to  intermit  that  practice.  It 
has  been  my  habit  for  twenty  years — at  first  as  a 
matter  of  duty,  but  it  has  now  become  a  pleasure. 
I  read  the  Bible  every  night." 

In  the  midst  of  the  assembled  multitude  who  heard 
his  inaugural  address,  it  is  well  known  that  he  pro- 
fessed his  profound  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  and  his  reverence  for  its  doctrines.  Oth- 
er presidents  had  spoken  in  general  and  very  proper 
terms,  certainly,  of  the  Supreme  Being,  but  he  de- 
clared his  faith  in  the  Christian  system. 

During  his  last  illness  he  received  its  consolations. 
We  may  well  trust  that  his  disembodied  spirit,  though 
it  has  passed  away  from  the  earth,  has  found  a  happy 
and  eternal  home  amid  brighter  climes. 

While  assembled  here  this  day  to  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  the  illustrious  dead,  let  us  bury  all  bitterness 
with  him.  We  are  American  citizens ;  we  claim  a 
common  country;  we  rejoice  together  in  the  day  of 
her  prosperity,  and  mourn  when  the  time  of  her  af- 
fliction cometh. 

Gathering,  then,  about  the  tomb  of  the  brave  and 
good  man  who  was  lately  our  president,  let  our 
hearts  warm  toward  each  other,  and  let  us  cherish 


THE   DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   HARRISON.  409 

the  virtues  of  the  departed  hero  and  statesman  as  the 
common  property  of  the  nation : 

"  Such  a  man 
Might  be  a  copy  to  these  younger  times." 

In  the  language  of  the  great  poet, 

"  This  was  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all ; 
His  life  was  gentle  ;  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up, 
And  say  to  all  the  world,  This  was  a  man." 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OP  HENRY 

CLAY. 

AN  ORATION  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  CITIZENS  OP  MONTGOMERY,  ALA- 
BAMA, SEPTEMBER,  1852. 

PERICLES,  in  his  oration  over  those  Athenians  who 
had  first  fallen  in  the  Peloponnesian  war,  declared  it 
to  be  a  debt  of  justice  to  pay  superior  honors  to  men 
who  had  devoted  their  lives  in  fighting  for  their 
country. 

What  honors,  then,  are  due  to  one  who  devoted 
his  whole  life  to  the  service  of  his  country ;  who  did 
not  reserve  his  heroism  for  a  single  impetuous  act  of 
self-sacrifice,  but  who,  in  his  early  manhood,  conse- 
crated himself  to  the  republic ;  who,  throughout  a 
long  career,  was  identified  with  its  glory ;  whose  de- 
clining days  were  irradiated  with  a  sunset  glow  of 
patriotism ;  and  whose  heart  flamed,  up  to  the  last 
moment  of  his  earthly  existence,  with  the  great  pas- 
sion of  his  life?  It  becomes  us  to  bring  our  noblest 
offerings  to  him  who  thrice  saved  the  republic ;  who 
rose  above  a  horizon  yet  glowing  with  the  expiring 
lights  of  the  Revolution,  and  for  half  a  century  shed 
the  splendor  of  a  great  intellect  upon  our  hemisphere ; 
who,  belonging  to  our  times,  is  regarded  with  the 
veneration  which  we  are  accustomed  to  pay  to  the 
illustrious  men  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  gov- 
ernment; and  who,  though  so  lately  a  living  actor 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   411 

in  the  scenes  of  public  life,  is  already  sent  to  History 
with  an  imperishable  crown  upon  his  brow. 

It  is  a  noble  faculty  of  our  nature  which  prompts 
our  homage  to  greatness.  We  recognize  in  those 
who  have  toiled  in  the  cause  of  humanity  the  quali- 
ties which  assimilate  man  to  the  Deity — which  seem 
to  lessen  the  distance  between  the  finite  and  the  infi- 
nite. They  appeal  to  that  profound  love  for  the 
good  and  the  beautiful  which  lies  hidden  in  every  hu- 
man heart. 

Hero  worship  is  not  a  development  of  modern  so- 
ciety. The  benefactors  of  their  race  in  ancient  times 
passed  away  from  the  earth  to  take  their  places 
among  the  stars,  and  were  elevated  to  the  circle  of 
the  gods;  and  in  this  time  of  ours,  ruled  as  the  world 
is  by  the  commercial  spirit — prone  as  it  is  to  gold- 
seeking  and  all  forms  of  materialism,  the  heart  of 
this  nation  beats  with  generous  emotion  when  a  true 
man  appeals  to  it  in  tones  of  real  earnestness,  or  per- 
forms some  heroic  exploit,  or  falls  in  the  service  of 
the  state. 

No  man  of  our  times  has  ruled  the  heart  of  the 
nation  with  a  more  potent  or  resistless  sway  than  the 
great  statesman  to  whose  memory  we  are  assembled 
this  day  to  pay  the  last  honors. 

For  nearly  half  a  century,  the  name  of  HENRY  CLAY 
has  been  associated  with  the  eventful  and  glorious 
history  of  our  country ;  and  I  could  not  pay  a  nobler 
tribute  to  his  genius  and  his  patriotism  than  to  enu- 
merate the  great  measures  which  he  either  originated, 
or  of  which  he  was  the  most  ardent  and  powerful  ad- 
vocate. It  was  the  boast  of  Augustus  that  he  found 


412      THE    LIFE    AND    CHARACTER    OP   HENRY    CLAY. 

Home  of  brick  and  left  it  of  marble.  Mr.  Clay 
might,  in  the  closing  days  of  his  life,  have  lifted  his 
illustrious  head  to  a  prouder  survey  than  an  imperial 
city  converted  from  brick  into  marble ;  he  might  have 
swept  the  broad  horizon  of  his  country  with  an  un- 
dimmed  eye,  and  have  claimed  her  wealth,  her  indus- 
try, her  enterprise,  her  power,  her  glory,  all  that  con- 
stitutes the  pride  of  independent  America,  with  the 
Mississippi  sending  its  mighty  tide  to  the  sea  free 
from  foreign  sway,  with  ships  which  bear  the  flag  of 
freedom  to  the  remotest  waters  of  the  earth,  with  a 
government  stretching  its  power  without  check  over 
a  continent,  and  planting  its  triumphant  eagles  upon 
the  shores  of  the  two  great  oceans  of  the  world — he 
might  have  claimed  all  this,  in  a  large  sense,  as  the 
work  of  his  hands,  and  looked  upon  it  as  emblazon- 
ing his  fame  forever.  To  his  labors  we  are  indebted 
for  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  for  a  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  which  left  us  in  undisputed  possession  of  our 
own  waters,  for  the  success  of  manufacturers,  for  the 
great  works  of  internal  improvement,  and,  above  all, 
for  that  UNION  which  to-day  exists  in  the  full  pride 
of  its  power  and  its  glory. 

Cicero,  when  about  to  speak  of  Pompey,  congrat- 
ulated himself  that  he  had  a  theme  so  crowded  with 
glorious  associations  that  he  could  not  fail  to  inter- 
est his  audience,  for  the  exploits  of  the  great  Roman 
transcended  those  of  the  proudest  names  in  imperial 
history,  and  conferred  increased  splendor  upon  the 
republic.  Let  this  be  my  inspiration  to-day ;  let  me 
take  courage,  as  I  look  over  this  great  multitude,  in 
the  reflection  that,  although  I  am  not  to  speak  of  a 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   413 

military  chieftain,  the  recital  of  whose  great  deeds  in 
arms  would  rouse  the  hearts  of  all  men,  yet  I  am  to 
speak  of  one  who  reached  a  still  loftier  eminence  than 
can  be  attained  in  the  field  of  battle ;  whose  majestic 
character  lifts  its  summit  to  the  heavens  in  the  clear 
light  of  peace ;  whose  hand  was  raised  to  bless,  and 
not  to  destroy ;  whose  name,  for  years  past,  has  nev- 
er been  uttered  in  assemblies  of  the  people  without 
calling  out  shouts  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  whose  renown 
is  bounded  only  by  the  limits  of  the  civilized  world. 

I  am  to  speak  of  HENRY  CLAY. 

It  is  not  possible,  perhaps,  to  speak  of  so  recent  a 
career  without  catching  something  of  the  spirit  of  the 
times ;  and  it  may  be  that  the  simple  language  of 
truth  will  arouse  passions  which  have  not  yet  settled 
down  into  that  calm  which  Time  spreads  alike  over 
the  convulsions  of  nature  and  of  states.  But  I  must 
be  allowed  to  speak  of  the  character  of  the  great 
statesman  with  freedom,  and  to  portray  the  events 
which  called  out  his  powers,  and  over  which  he  ex- 
erted an  influence  so  potential,  with  the  fidelity  which 
should  distinguish  the  pages  of  history,  whether  the 
record  be  made  before  the  actors  have  sunk  out  of 
the  view  of  the  living  generation,  or  whether  it  be 
traced  by  one  who  looks  across  the  cold  atmosphere 
of  intervening  years  at  the  scenes  which  he  describes. 
Surrounded  as  I  am  by  Americans,  who  assemble 
here,  irrespective  of  party  differences,  to  bring  a  gar- 
land for  the  tomb  of  an  illustrious  patriot,  I  shall 
seek  to  treat  Mr.  Clay's  acts,  opinions,  and  merits  as 
those  of  an  American  in  whose  fame  we  all  have  now 
a  common  interest. 


414      THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

Mr.  Clay  was  born  in  Hanover  county,  Virginia, 
on  the  12th  of  April,  1777. 

He  was  fortunate  both  in  the  time  and  place  of  his 
birth.  His  youth  was  passed  among  men  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  struggles  of  the  Revolution,  and 
who,  after  the  storm  had  gone  by,  were  engaged  un- 
der the  serene  heavens  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a 
free  government. 

In  Virginia,  that  renowned  commonwealth,  which 
has  nourished  at  her  generous  bosom  so  many  illus- 
trious sons,  who,  deriving  their  existence  from  a  no- 
ble lineage,  were  among  the  first  to  defy  the  power  of 
Great  Britain — in  Virginia,  within  whose  limits  the 
last  great  battle  of  the  Revolution  was  fought,  and 
where  so  many  statesmen  arose  who  shared  the  perils 
of  that  great  contest,  and  who,  after  achieving  the 
independence  of  the  country,  had  established  the  re- 
public— there  Mr.  Clay  formed  the  opinions  and 
adopted  the  principles  which  governed  his  whole  life. 
He  grew  up  under  the  training  of  Edmund  Pendle- 
ton,  John  Marshall,  Bushrod  Washington,  and  other 
eminent  men  who  were  engaged  in  public  affairs,  and 
with  whom  a  young  man  of  ardent  and  high  aspira- 
tions could  not  associate  without  having  his  mind 
liberalized  and  his  nature  ennobled.  No  circum- 
stance can  be  more  fortunate  for  one  who  is  to  take 
part  in  the  great  affairs  of  life  than  the  privilege  of 
seeing  and  hearing,  in  his  youth,  illustrious  men — a 
privilege  which  often  does  more  for  the  development 
of  genius  and  the  elevation  of  character  than  the 
most  rigid  training  of  the  schools.  Cicero  traveled 
to  Rhodes  that  he  might  be  instructed  in  the  cele- 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   415 

brated  school  of  eloquence  established  there  by  ^schi- 
hes,  and  we  have  the  immortal  orations  which  he  de- 
livered in  the  forum  and  in  the  senate-chamber. 

Henry  Clay,  destitute  of  the  gifts  of  fortune,  of  the 
means  of  foreign  travel,  of  the  advantages  of  a  colle- 
giate course,  stood  in  the  presence  of  PATRICK  HENRY, 
and,  while  he  heard  the  thunder  of  his  eloquence,  he 
caught  an  inspiration  as  fortunate  as  that  which  the 
Roman  senator  found  in  his  youth.  Who  can  say 
how  far  the  whole  career  of  Mr.  Clay  was  influenced 
by  that  early  and  eager  listening  to  the  voice  of 
Patrick  Henry?  Did  not  the  mighty  energies  of 
that  resistless  orator  find  an  echo  in  the  bosom  of 
the  obscure  youth  who  stood  up  to  hear  his  trumpet 
tones?  The  same  generous  fire,  the  same  clarion 
voice,  the  same  rushing,  impetuous  power  of  intel- 
lect belonged  to  both.  The  same  spirit  of  patriotic 
fervor  which  animated  the  Demosthenes  of  Virginia 
flamed  up  in  Henry  Clay  with  equal  ardor  and  brill- 
iancy. 

It  is  worth  while,  for  the  sake  of  a  cheering  prin- 
ciple which  the  fact  contains,  to  say  that  the  early 
life  of  Mr.  Clay  was  one  of  toil ;  in  the  fields,  or 
wherever  else  the  wants  of  his  mother's  family  re- 
quired, he  labored ;  and  the  hand  which,  in  the  prime 
of  manhood,  directed  the  movements  of  the  govern- 
ment, had  guided  the  plow  as  it  turned  up  the  soil  to 
receive  the  seed.  At  fifteen,  he  entered  the  office  of 
Mr.  Tinsley,  of  Richmond,  who  was  connected  with 
the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  there  he  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  Chancellor  Wythe,  who  employed  him  as 
an  amanuensis,  directed  his  studies,  introduced  him  to 


416      THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

authors  of  solid  worth,  and  opened  his  mind  to  receive 
the  generous  influence  of  classical  learning. 

"  There  upon  his  opening  soul 
First  the  genial  ardor  stole." 

At  twenty,  in  the  true  spirit  of  self-reliance,  he  left 
Virginia,  and  established  himself  in  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky. The  friendless  youth  took  his  place  at  the 
bar,  and,  relying  upon  his  intellect,  his  energy,  his  in- 
dustry, his  honest  purpose  to  do  his  duty,  he  estab- 
lished his  claim  to  consideration  in  the  midst  of  full- 
grown  men  already  eminent. 

Without  a  large  acquaintance  with  law-books,  or 
an  extensive  survey  of  the  broad  foundations  of  the 
system  of  jurisprudence  inherited  from  England,  Mr. 
Clay  had  applied  his  mind  to  a  philosophical  investi- 
gation of  its  leading  principles.  These  he  had  grasp- 
ed with  a  mind  singularly  clear,  rapid,  and  compre- 
hensive ;  and  with  an  energy  quite  indomitable,  and 
a  faithful  consecration  of  himself  to  every  task  which 
he  undertook,  he  continued  to  rank  through  life  as 
a  lawyer  in  the  highest  and  best  sense,  and  to  win 
triumphs  at  the  bar  which  many  men  of  more  re- 
search, with  inferior  abilities,  would  in  vain  have  at- 
tempted. 

He  was  not  destined  to  continue  at  the  bar.  He  en- 
tered early  into  the  service  of  his  country,  and  it  is 
his  political  career  which  we  are  to  review — a  review 
of  which  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  was  the 
most  splendid  ever  witnessed  among  the  statesmen 
of  this  country.  Rising  rapidly  to  the  highest  heav- 
ens, he  flooded  the  country  with  his  light  through  a 
long  day,  and  when  he  sunk  toward  the  horizon 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   417 

which  touches  eternity,  he  threw  the  milder  beams 
of  his  majestic  intellect  over  the  republic  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Mr.  Clay's  first  ap- 
pearance in  Congress  was  as  a  senator  from  the  State 
of  Kentucky,  a  post  which  he  held  but  for  a  short 
time.  He  was  elected  to  the  House  of  [Representa- 
tives, and  took  his  seat  in  the  Congress  which  was 
convened  by  the  President's  proclamation  in  Novem- 
ber, 1811,  when  the  aspect  of  our  foreign  relations 
was  threatening.  He  was  instantly  chosen  speaker 
by  an  overwhelming  majority.  A  higher  proof  of 
confidence  in  his  abilities  and  character,  or  a  nobler 
tribute  to  his  patriotism, couldnot have  been  accorded; 
nor  has  any  parliamentary  body,  in  any  country,  ever 
brought  to  its  service  a  presiding  officer  more  richly 
endowed  with  those  great  qualities,  so  rarely  found 
blended  in  a  single  individual,  which  are  required  in 
one  who  rules  the  deliberations  of  a  free  popular  as- 
sembly. Prompt,  firm,  and  decided,  he  impressed 
the  House  with  a  profound  respect  for  his  authority, 
while  the  manliness,  frankness,  and  elegance  of  his 
manners  secured  to  him  the  sincere  good- will  of  the 
body,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  most  momentous  and 
exciting  debates. 

He  continued  to  preside  over  the  House  through- 
out his  protracted  service  as  a  representative. 

Passing  through  the  most  eventful  tunes,  he  con- 
tinued firmly  seated  in  the  speaker's  chair,  and  exert- 
ed over  the  deliberations  of  that  great  popular  body 
almost  unlimited  control.  The  House  of  Represent- 
atives, created  by  the  people — exhibiting  the  popu- 
lar sympathies — swayed  by  the  tempests  which  sweep 

DD 


418       THE    LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

over  the  country — affording,  from  its  large  number 
of  members,  opportunities  for  the  powerful  appeals 
of  oratory — the  seat  of  the  nation's  strength,  where 
every  tax-bill  must  originate,  and  where  the  quick  in- 
dignation excited  by  any  assertion  upon  the  rights 
or  honor  of  the  country  may  at  once  flame  up  into  a 
declaration  of  war,  was  the  proper  theatre  for  the 
display  of  Mr.  Clay's  transcendent  abilities.  The 
Senate  is  a  smaller  body,  embodying  the  conservative 
elements  of  the  government,  removed  from  the  direct 
influence  of  the  people,  and  so  constituted  as  to  with- 
stand the  surges  of  popular  passions  which  some- 
times thunder  against  its  portals. 

In  the  House  Mr.  Clay  acquired  a  commanding  in- 
fluence over  the  country.  He  became  the  popular 
leader,  animating  the  Republican  ranks  to  heroic  ex- 
ertions, denouncing  in  vehement  and  indignant  terms 
all  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  administrations 
which  he  sustained,  and  on  some  occasions  bearing 
away  not  only  the  House,  but  the  Senate  and  the 
executive,  by  his  resistless  will. 

His  great  strength  was  with  the  people.  His  heart 
beat  in  sympathy  with  their  hearts ;  they  compre- 
hended him ;  they  loved  him ;  they  put  their  trust 
in  him ;  and  the  pealing  notes  of  his  voice,  uttered  in 
the  Capitol,  found  an  echo  in  the  remotest  border  of 
the  American  wilderness.  He  acquired  the  name  of 
the  "Great  Commoner,"  a  prouder  title  than  kings 
can  bestow  with  stars,  or  garters,  or  ribbons. 

Henry  Brougham,  when  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, was  the  most  powerful  man  in  the  British  em- 
pire. The  civilized  world  rang  with  his  tones.  No 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   419 

administration,  backed  as  it  might  be  by  the  powers 
of  the  crown,  could  stand  before  his  assaults ;  but 
from  the  day  when  he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  became  a  titled  peer,  his  sway  began  to 
decline,  and  the  consideration  which  he  now  enjoys 
is  due  to  the  splendid  fame  which  he  won  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  people.  Pitt,  the  younger,  never 
would  surrender  his  seat  in  the  Commons,  which  was 
to  him  a  throne  more  powerful  than  that  upon  which 
his  monarch  sat. 

Mr.  Clay,  if  he  had  continued  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  refusing  to  abandon  that  post  for 
any  office  to  which  he  was  not  called  by  the  people, 
could  have  strode  with  the  majesty  of  a  demi-god  into 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States.  In  the  Senate 
he  was  still  powerful,  the  leading  mind  in  that  body 
when  it  was  crowded  with  men  of  the  highest  order, 
great  in  intellect,  splendid  in  reputation:  it  rivaled 
the  Roman  senate  in  dignity,  and  transcended  it  in 
power.  In  that  body  he  was  great  as  Lord  Chatham 
was  in  the  House  of  Lords ;  he  could  not  be  other- 
wise than  great ;  but  the  day  of  his  full-orbed  splendor 
was  when  he  stood  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
a  tribune  of  the  people.  Refulgent  he  stood  in  the 
view  of  his  country,  full  of  promise,  of  hope,  and  of 
manhood.  When  Mr.  Clay  entered  the  House  of 
Representatives,  all  Europe  was  engaged  in  a  war 
which  shook  the  world,  and  our  commerce  was  ex- 
posed to  its  fury.  It  became  a  prey  to  the  contend- 
ing powers.  England  swept  the  seas  with  her  fleets, 
and  plundered  our  unprotected  vessels,  while  she 
stripped  them  of  such  seamen  as  might  be  supposed 


420     THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

to  owe  allegiance  to  the  British,  crown.  France 
seized  our  property  wherever  it  could  be  found,  and 
confiscated  it  under  the  decrees  of  Napoleon,  who 
strove  to  range  the  world  against  his  imperial  and 
powerful  enemy.  France  at  length  yielded  to  our 
remonstrances,  but  Great  Britain  persisted  in  a  course 
of  aggression  which  roused  the  spirit  of  the  nation, 
and  drove  us  into  a  war  which,  although  costly  in 
treasure  and  in  blood,  vindicated  our  rights,  and  shed 
new  lustre  upon  the  flag  of  the  republic.  Reluctant 
as  the  nation  was  to  engage  in  war,  Mr.  Clay  urged 
its  policy  and  necessity;  he  organized  the  commit- 
tees of  the  House  so  as  to  control  its  action ;  he  de- 
nounced the  policy,  the  objects,  and  the  measures  of 
the  British  government,  and  attributed  its  hostility 
to  the  United  States  not  to  any  wish  to  attack  the 
interests  of  France  by  destroying  our  commerce,  but 
to  her  dread  of  a  young  and  powerful  rival,  who  al- 
ready sent  her  ships  to  every  sea,  manned  by  one 
hundred  and  twenty  tars.  He  advocated  an  increase 
of  the  navy,  for  he  comprehended  that  no  modern 
nation  can  be  really  independent  which  is  not  pre- 
pared to  protect  its  people  and  its  commerce  in  the 
most  distant  seas,  and  to  cause  its  flag  to  be  respected 
under  whatever  sky  it  is  displayed.  The  country 
was  put  into  an  attitude  of  resistance,  and  in  June, 
1812,  the  committee  on  foreign  relations  reported  to 
the  House  a  bill  declaring  war  against  Great  Britain. 
Mr.  Clay  advocated  its  passage  with  resistless  pow- 
er ;  associated  with  him  stood  Mr.  Lowndes,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn,  and  Mr.  Cheves,  and  they  bore  down  all  oppo- 
sition. In  the  van  of  that  group  of  statesmen  Mr. 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   421 

Clay  stood  proudly  eminent ;  throughout  the  war  he 
animated  the  country  with  his  own  spirit;  no  re- 
verses could  dishearten,  no  disasters  could  depress 
him.  He  exultingly  announced  every  victory  upon 
the  seas,  and  his  voice  announced  with  vehement  in- 
dignation every  proposition  for  peace  which  did  not 
secure  to  us  the  amplest  guarantees  that  our  rights 
and  our  honor  should  be  respected. 

He  overwhelmed  the  opposition  —  he  fired  the 
friends  of  the  administration  with  his  own  ardor — 
he  inflamed  the  representatives  of  the  people  with 
a  burning  indignation  against  the  imperious  and 
haughty  nation  with  whom  the  country  was  at  war, 
by  describing  the  wrong,  the  cruelty,  and  the  suffer- 
ing which  resulted  from  the  practice  of  impressment, 
until,  as  he  advanced  in  his  glowing  philippic,  the 
utter  degradation  of  submitting  to  such  a  system  was 
felt  by  the  members  of  the  House  so  intensely  that 
the  tide  of  passion  could  be  pent  up  no  longer ;  it 
burst  forth  before  the  eloquent  statesman  who  was 
pleading  for  the  honor  and  rights  of  the  nation,  and 
swept  away  all  resistance  to  the  war. 

Having  urged  the  country  to  vindicate  its  rights 
by  war,  Mr.  Clay  was  equally  prompt  and  energetic 
in  securing  an  honorable  peace.  He  was  associated 
with  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  Bayard,  and  Mr. 
Russell  in  negotiating  at  Ghent  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  the  commissioners  appointed  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain.  The  fisheries  and  the  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi  formed  the  chief  difficulties  in  bring- 
ing the  negotiation  to  a  friendly  issue.  The  British 
commissioners  insisted  upon  a  recognition  in  the 


422      THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY   CLAY. 

treaty  of  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  navigate  the 
Mississippi  from  its  mouth  to  its  source — a  right 
which  had  hitherto  been  enjoyed  in  consideration  of 
the  privilege  granted  to  citizens  of  the  United  States 
to  fish  within  the  British  waters,  and  to  dry  and  cure 
their  fish  upon  British  soil.  Some  of  the  American 
commissioners  thought  it  best  to  perpetuate  this  stip- 
ulation, but  Mr.  Clay  announced  his  unalterable  de- 
termination "never  to  consent  to  purchase  tempora- 
ry and  uncertain  privileges  within  the  British  limits 
at  the  expense  of  putting  a  foreign  and  degrading 
mark  upon  the  noblest  of  all  our  rivers."  His  views 
prevailed.  Mr.  Clay  returned  to  his  own  country 
with  the  proud  consciousness  of  having  placed  her 
honor  and  her  rights  upon  a  footing  which  the  whole 
world  would  respect. 

The  success  of  our  arms  upon  the  land,  and  the 
brilliant  victories  achieved  by  our  young  navy  over 
the  powerful  fleets  of  Great  Britain  upon  the  sea, 
had  caused  the  American  name  every  where  to  be  re- 
spected; and  the  splendid  example  of  a  republic  for- 
midable in  war,  and  yet  ready  to  adjust  all  causes  of 
controversy  with  moderation  and  justice,  was  beheld 
by  the  civilized  world  with  unbounded  admiration. 

The  treaty  of  peace  left  us  in  possession  of  every 
right  which  we  had  asserted,  and  which  we  had  un- 
dertaken to  vindicate  by  war;  our  seamen  might 
visit  the  remotest  seas,  and  find  protection  in  the  flag 
that  floated  over  them ;  our  commerce  was  safe  from 
spoliation;  and  the  noble  river  which  rolls  its  waters 
through  great  states,  beginning  at  the  extreme  north, 
and  emptying  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  freed 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   423 

from  foreign  vassalage,  and  became,  for  the  first  time, 
American.  In  anticipation  of  his  return,  Mr.  Clay 
had  been  elected  to  Congress  by  his  constituents,  and, 
entering  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  was  im- 
mediately chosen  speaker  by  a  vote  almost  unani- 
mous. The  South  American  colonies,  animated  by 
the  example  of  the  United  States,  were  struggling  for 
independence.  The  spectacle  could  not  fail  to  inter- 
est our  people  and  our  government,  nor  was  it  possi- 
ble for  a  statesman  like  Mr.  Clay,  with  quick  sympa- 
thies and  enlarged  philanthropy,  to  look  on  such  a 
contest  with  indifference. 

He  proposed  to  provide  in  the  Appropriation  Bill 
for  the  pay  of  a  minister  to  the  independent  prov- 
inces of  the  Hiver  de  la  Plata,  and  supported  his  mo- 
tion by  one  of  the  most  brilliant,  comprehensive,  and 
powerful  speeches  which  he  ever  delivered.  The 
moral  grandeur  of  his  position  was  never  higher  than 
on  that  occasion.  He  stood  up  to  plead  for  the  rec- 
ognition of  the  independence  of  the  South  American 
states  against  the  opinion  of  the  world.  Europe  was, 
of  course,  opposed  to  the  measure ;  Congress  would 
not  consent  to  favor  it ;  the  President  was  unwilling 
to  commit  the  government  of  the  United  States  to 
that  extent ;  and  yet  Mr.  Clay  arose,  refulgent  and 
undismayed,  against  this  universal  opposition.  He 
spoke  in  behalf  of  human  freedom,  and  he  drew  from 
history  his  illustrations  in  support  of  the  right  of 
every  people  suffering  under  despotic  rule  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  of  subjection,  to  create  new  defenses  for 
their  protection,  or  to  take  an  independent  station 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


424      THE    LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

England  and  our  own  country  had  both  nobly  vin- 
dicated this  great  right.  It  is  emblazoned  in  charac- 
ters of  unfading  light  in  the  history  both  of  the  En- 
glish and  American  Revolutions.  His  speech  in  this 
great  cause  was  replete  with  learning  and  eloquence. 
It  announced  in  exulting  tones  the  advent  of  free- 
dom, and  proclaimed  with  bounding  hope  the  over- 
throw of  despotic  power.  Mr.  Clay  succeeded  in 
bringing  our  government  to  a  recognition  of  South 
American  independence,  and  he  was  well  rewarded 
for  his  generous  exertions  by  the  assurance  that  his 
words  had  infused  new  ardor  into  the  bosoms  of  a 
brave  people.  His  speech  was  read  at  the  head  of 
their  armies,  to  excite  them  to  still  nobler  struggles 
for  liberty,  and  Bolivar  addressed  to  him  a  grateful 
letter,  acknowledging  the  essential  service  which  he 
had  rendered  to  their  great  cause. 

Upon  certain  great  questions  of  American  policy 
Mr.  Clay  entertained  opinions  which  he  frankly 
avowed  through  life.  He  believed  that  Congress 
possessed  the  power  to  appropriate  money  for  works 
of  internal  improvement,  and  he  urged  the  adoption 
of  a  comprehensive  system  to  facilitate  intercourse 
between  the  people  of  the  several  states,  and  to  bind 
more  closely  the  various  parts  of  one  wide-spread  re- 
public. The  leading  statesmen  of  our  country  have 
been  divided  upon  this  question ;  it  is  yet  a  subject 
of  debate,  after  all  the  light  which  has  been  shed 
upon  it.  The  power  was  conceded  by  Mr.  Jefferson, 
for  he  favored  the  construction  of  the  Cumberland 
Road.  Mr.  Madison  invited  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress to  the  expediency  of  exercising  their  powers  to 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   425 

effectuate  a  comprehensive  system  of  roads  and  ca- 
nals. Mr.  Monroe  proposed  to  make  appropriation 
of  money  for  like  objects ;  while  Mr.  Gallatin  and 
Mr.  Calhoun,  when  at  the  head  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment, the  one  in  1808  and  the  other  ten  years  later, 
advocated  extensive  measures  of  internal  improve- 
ment ;  but  the  last  named  of  these  statesmen  subse- 
quently reviewed  and  modified  his  opinions. 

Mr.  Clay  persevered  through  life  impressing  the 
subject  upon  the  attention  of  Congress,  and  to  him 
more  than  any  other  of  our  statesmen  is  the  country 
indebted  for  such  public  works  as  have  been  already 
accomplished,  and  for  the  vindication  of  the  power 
of  the  government  to  undertake  such  enterprises — a 
power  which,  when  guided  by  the  spirit  of  the  Con- 
stitution, is  a  most  important  and  beneficent  one. 
The  Cumberland  Hoad,  conceived  and  executed  in  a 
spirit  as  bold  as  that  which  constructed  the  Simplon 
Hoad  over  the  Alps,  opens  a  way  across  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  spreads  before  the  eye  of  the  traveler  a 
noble  memorial  of  the  great  statesman  who  labored 
so  ardently  and  so  faithfully  to  accomplish  it. 

Upon'  another  question,  which,  like  that  of  inter- 
nal improvements,  has  ranged  the  public  men  of  the 
country  in  fierce  opposition  to  each  other,  and  which 
has  more  than  once  threatened  to  disturb  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  government — the  tariff — Mr.  Clay  en- 
tertained opinions  which,  formed  early  in  life,  were 
cherished  throughout  his  career. 

He  was  the  advocate  of  the  system  for  the  protec- 
tion of  American  industry. 

He  thought  it  essential  to  the  true  prosperity  and 


426      THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

the  real  independence  of  the  United  States  that  our 
people  should  produce  at  home  the  chief  articles  suit- 
ed to  the  wants  of  man  in  civilized  life.  The  variety 
of  soil  and  climate — the  adaptation  of  some  parts  of 
the  country  to  agricultural  productions — the  aptness 
of  some  of  our  people  to  engage  in  commerce — all 
these  natural  elements  would  be  supposed  to  work 
out  their  results ;  but  the  skill  required  in  the  me- 
chanic arts,  the  fluctuations  in  prices  occasioned  by 
changes  in  the  affairs  of  European  states,  and  the 
advantages  possessed  by  foreign  capitalists  in  the  em- 
ployment of  pauper  labor,  seemed  to  him  to  require 
some  protection  for  the  manufacturing  interest,  and 
he  perseveringly  insisted  that  certain  articles  import- 
ed into  the  country,  and  coming  into  opposition  with 
our  own  productions,  should  be  taxed,  to  enable  the 
American  manufacturer  to  compete  with  rival  estab- 
lishments abroad.  This  system  he  named  the  Amer- 
ican System. 

This  is  not  the  occasion  to  enter  upon  an  examina- 
tion of  the  merits  of  a  system  which  has  been  so  long 
and  so  fiercely  debated ;  but  it  is  due  to  the  truth  of 
history  to  say  that  it  found  in  Mr.  Clay  far  the  ablest 
advocate  ever  employed  in  its  cause,  while  his  ene- 
mies acknowledged  him  to  be  the  most  magnanimous 
statesman  that  had  ever  conducted  a  great  measure 
to  which  he  was  deeply  committed  through  a  long 
course  of  years  and  changing  fortunes. 

He  did  not  hesitate  to  yield  up,  from  time  to 
time,  some  of  his  cherished  ideas  in  regard  to  it  from 
a  patriotic  desire  to  secure  to  the  government  as 
large  a  share  of  confidence  and  satisfaction  as  could 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   427 

be  attained  amid  the  conflicting  opinions  of  public 
men  representing  the  diversified  interests  of  the  coun- 
try. 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  Mr.  Clay  to  find  him- 
self more  than  once  holding  a  controlling  influence 
over  important  questions  which  tried  the  strength  of 
the  government,  and  on  every  occasion  he  displayed 
qualities  so  noble,  so  magnanimous,  and  so  full  of  the 
spirit  which  in  ancient  or  modern  times  has  impelled 
men  to  sacrifices  for  the  good  of  their  country,  that 
he  has  long  been  ranked  with  PATRIOTS  who  shed 
•along  the  track  of  history  the  light  of  resplendent 
examples,  to  encourage  mankind  to  the  performance 
of  deeds  which  deserve  to  be  called  heroic. 

In  the  controversy  which  sprung  up  upon  the  ap- 
plication of  MISSOURI  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  a  state,  Mr.  Clay  displayed  his  great  qualities,  and 
rendered  the  most  important  services  to  the  country. 
That  controversy  was  far  the  most  formidable  which 
has  ever  occurred  under  our  government. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  looking  out  upon  the  state  of  the 
country  from  his  retirement  in  Virginia,  was  startled 
by  the  alarming  aspect  of  affairs ;  he  declared  that  he 
regarded  the  question  as  the  most  momentous  which 
had  ever  threatened  the  Union,  and  that,  in  the  dark- 
est hour  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  he  had  nev- 
er felt  such  apprehensions  as  then  oppressed  him. 
From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  that  perilous  agi- 
tation, Mr.  Clay  labored  without  ceasing  to  bring 
about  an  adjustment,  and  at  length  succeeded  in  car- 
rying through  both  houses  of  Congress  a  compromise 
which  saved  the  Union  and  gave  repose  to  the  coun- 


428      THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

try.  The  services  rendered  by  him  on  that  occasion 
were  so  signal,  that  he  acquired,  in  addition  to  the  ti- 
tle of  the  c '  Great  Commoner, "  another  title  still  more 
illustrious,  that  of  the  u  Great  Pacificator" — a  title 
to  which  he  subsequently  vindicated  his  name  by 
services  still  more  important  and  splendid.  Mr.  Clay 
had  now  attained  the  most  commanding  position; 
his  brilliant  talents,  his  important  public  services, 
his  ardent  patriotism,  which,  like  that  of  the  ancient 
Greeks,  made  him  regard  every  thing  as  subordinate 
to  the  glory  of  the  state ;  his  national  views,  which 
would  not  allow  him  to  belong  to  a  section  of  the 
Republic,  had  endeared  him  to  the  people,  and,  young 
as  he  was,  he  was  presented  to  the  country  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  presidency. 

Besides  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Adams,  General  Jackson, 
and  Mr.  Crawford  became  candidates.  No  choice 
was  made  by  the  people,  and  the  election  devolved 
upon  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  whom  the 
Constitution  provides  one  of  the  three  candidates 
having  the  highest  number  of  electoral  votes  shall  be 
chosen  President  in  cases  where  no  one  of  the  persons 
voted  for  shall  have  received  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number.  The  three  candidates  highest  on  the  list 
were  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Craw- 
ford. The  provision  in  the  Constitution  which  di- 
rects the  election  to  be  made  by  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives in  the  event  of  a  failure  on  the  part  of 
the  people  to  choose  the  President,  and  which  limits 
the  choice  to  the  three  persons  receiving  the  largest 
vote  in  the  electoral  colleges,  of  course  leaves  to  the 
House  the  unrestricted  privilege  of  selecting  from  the 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   429 

list  either  of  the  candidates ;  otherwise  it  would  be 
unnecessary  to  devolve  upon  the  representatives  of 
the  people  the  duty  of  performing  a  formal  act,  and 
it  would  have  been  a  provision  in  the  fundamental 
law  that  a  plurality  of  votes  should  entitle  a  candi- 
date to  the  office  of  President.  It  was  well  known 
that  Mr.  Clay's  influence  in  the  House  would  enable 
him  to  decide  the  contest  between  the  three  persons 
returned  to  that  body.  It  is  believed  that  Mr.  Craw- 
ford would  have  been  Mr.  Clay's  choice  if  the  splen- 
did intellect  of  that  statesman  had  not  been  partially 
impaired  by  disease ;  in  its  meridian  effulgence,  the 
shadows  of  an  eclipse  which  never  passed  away  began 
to  steal  over  it.  Between  Mr.  Adams  and  General 
Jackson  Mr.  Clay  did  not  hesitate,  and  decided  in 
favor  of  the  former.  His  long  public  services,  his 
learning,  his  eminent  qualifications,  and  his  position 
in  the  country,  might  have  accounted  satisfactorily 
for  Mr.  Clay's  preference ;  but  no  sooner  was  it  ascer- 
tained that  he  intended  to  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  than 
the  fiercest  and  most  vindictive  assault  was  made 
upon  him,  and  reckless  partisans  of  General  Jack- 
son persevered  in  charging  upon  him  a  corrupt  bar- 
gain with  the  new  president  for  office,  which  would 
have  disgraced  a  statesman  in  the  time  of  Walpole, 
when  the  venality  of  the  House  of  Commons  was 
proverbial.  Calumny  found  a  great  name  to  fasten 
upon,  and  it  adhered  to  it  with  a  tenacity  as  shame- 
less as  it  was  malignant.  That  name  has  been  tri- 
umphantly vindicated  by  the  subsequent  career  of 
the  great  statesman ;  like  the  eagle  soaring  toward 
the  sun,  he  rose  high  in  the  heavens,  his  eye  blazing 
with  ardor,  and  his  wings  flashing  with  light. 


430       THE    LIFE    AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY    CLAY. 

Mr.  Clay  accepted  the  place  of  Secretary  of  State 
in  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Adams.  That  was  his  error ; 
it  exposed  him  to  detraction,  and  gave  that  color  to 
the  injurious  charge  of  his  enemies  which,  if  he  had 
declined  the  office,  it  never  could  have  possessed. 
But  it  was  an  error  into  which  a  pure  and  strong 
man  was  apt  to  fall.  Conscious  of  his  own  integrity, 
he  looked  down  with  unmeasured  scorn  upon  those 
who  calumniated  him.  In  this  world  of  ours,  it  is, 
perhaps,  not  wise  to  do  so ;  yet  who  can  withhold 
his  sympathy  from  the  true  man  who  will  not  swerve 
from  his  course  to  escape  the  attacks  of  his  enemies? 
In  this  rapid  glance  at  Mr.  Clay's  career,  we  have 
reached  the  period  when  he  took  leave  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  never  to  return  to  it.  We  have 
already  said  that  it  was  the  proper  field  for  the  exer- 
cise of  his  great  abilities.  He  had  earned  there  a 
splendid  reputation ;  he  had  controlled  the  action  of 
the  government  by  the  power  which  he  exerted  over 
the  House;  he  had  originated  the  most  important 
measures  of  the  country ;  he  had  roused  the  nation 
to  wage  war  with  a  haughty  and  powerful  empire ; 
he  had  cheered  the  friends  of  liberty  throughout  the 
world  by  words  of  generous  sympathy ;  and  he  had 
effected  a  pacific  adjustment  of  an  angry  and  moment- 
ous domestic  controversy  which  shook  the  republic ; 
and  now  the  "  Great  Commoner"  strode  through  the 
portal  of  that  magnificent  chamber  which  had  so  long 
rung  with  his  tones,  and  ceased  forever  to  be  a  REP- 
RESENTATIVE OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

Mr.  Clay,  when  Secretary  of  State,  was  distinguish- 
ed for  the  energy  and  comprehensiveness  which  he 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   431 

displayed  in  conducting  the  intercourse  of  the  United 
States  with  foreign  nations. 

His  statesmanship  was  of  the  highest  order.  He 
established  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with 
other  powers  upon  a  footing  which  gave  security  to 
commerce ;  he  extended  to  the  young  states  of  South 
America  and  to  Greece,  when  fighting  for  independ- 
ence, all  the  aid  which  a  sound  policy  would  allow ; 
he  extended  our  foreign  trade,  and  conducted  the  ne- 
gotiations which  accomplished  these  objects  in  a  spir- 
it so  firm  and  just,  that  the  triumphs  of  peace  rival- 
ed those  of  war.  At  the  expiration  of  the  term  for 
which  Mr.  Adams  was  elected,  Mr.  Clay  left  Wash- 
ington and  returned  to  Ashland. 

He  soon  appeared  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  The  memorable  tariff  dispute  with  South 
Carolina  had  grown  to  be  a  formidable  and  porten- 
tous one.  It  turned  upon  a  great  constitutional  prin- 
ciple, and  it  is  well  known  that  the  most  dangerous 
of  all  disputes  are  those  which  involve  a  principle. 
Temporary  abuses  may  be  ridiculed ;  an  odious  meas- 
ure may  be  repealed ;  the  pressure  of  the  government 
may  be  borne  when  the  times  require  it ;  but  a  law 
which  overrides  a  constitutional  barrier  will  be  re- 
sisted by  a  high-spirited  people  in  a  temper  so  heat- 
ed by  a  sense  of  wrong  that  it  sometimes  flames  up 
into  a  revolution.  South  Carolina,  in  solemn  con- 
vention, passed  an  ordinance  declaring  the  revenue 
laws  of  the  United.  States  to  be  null  and  void  with- 
in her  limits,  and  adopted  decided  measures  for  put- 
ting the  state  into  an  attitude  of  resistance  to  the 
general  government.  General  Jackson,  who  was  at 


432       THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

the  head  of  the  government,  issued  a  proclamation, 
in  which  he  denounced  the  proceedings  of  South  Car- 
olina as  treasonable,  urged  the  good  citizens  of  that 
state  who  were  opposed  to  Nullification  to  co-operate 
with  him  in  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  laws, 
and  invited  those  who  had  hitherto  taken  part  in  the 
revolutionary  movement  to  abandon  the  perilous 
course  upon  which  they  had  entered.  He  leveled 
his  thunders  against  the  doctrine  of  Nullification  and 
that  of  Secession,  denying  the  right  of  the  state  either 
to  set  aside  a  law  of  the  United  States,  or  to  with- 
draw from  the  confederacy  without  the  consent  of  all 
the  states.  In  a  special  message  to  Congress,  he  de- 
picted the  state  of  the  country,  and  demanded  to  be 
clothed  with  power  to  suppress  by  force  any  attempt 
at  resistance  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina. 

Governor  Hayne  issued  a  counter-proclamation, 
encouraging  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina  to  a  steady 
and  heroic  support  of  their  state  in  her  daring  and 
perilous  position.  The  sky  grew  darker  every  hour. 
The  day  fixed  upon  by  South  Carolina  for  resistance 
to  the  revenue  laws  was  rapidly  approaching.  The 
state  planted  herself  in  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  and 
her  sons  were  prepared  to  die  in  her  defense. 

Mr.  Calhoun  had  resigned  the  office  of  Vice-presi- 
dent, and  was  chosen  by  his  state  a  senator  in  that  cri- 
sis. The  energy  and  resolution  of  his  character  were 
well  known;  and  entering  the  Senate  when  it  was 
believed  that  his  own  person  was  not  safe,  he  brought 
that  intellectual  power  for  which  he  was  so  distin- 
guished into  the  defense  of  his  state,  and  delivered  in 
her  cause  far  the  ablest  speech  which  he  ever  uttered 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   433 

in  his  whole  career.  His  great  antagonist  was  Mr. 
Webster,  who  had,  in  a  previous  debate  with  Mr. 
Hayne,  delivered  a  speech  in  defense  of  the  Union 
which  stands  unsurpassed  by  any  oration  of  ancient 
or  modern  times.  It  combines  the  elegance  of  Cicero 
with  the  power  of  Demosthenes— the  splendor  of 
Burke  with  the  vigor  of  Pitt.  The  Senate  and  the 
country  witnessed  the  debate  between  Mr.  Calhoun 
and  Mr.  Webster  with  the  profoundest  interest.  It 
involved  great  organic  principles,  and  the  impending 
collision  between  the  government  and  a  state  gave 
them  an  intenser  significance  and  a  higher  grandeur. 
At  that  conjuncture,  when  the  light  seemed  to  have 
faded  from  the  darkening  horizon,  Mr.  Clay  brought 
forward  a  measure  which  promised  to  restore  peace  to 
the  country.  He  offered  to  the  Senate  his  Compromise 
Bill,  which  provided  for  a  decided  but  gradual  reduc- 
tion of  the  duties  upon  imported  articles  up  to  the  year 
1842,  at  which  period  they  were  to  be  fixed  at  a  rate 
of  twenty  per  cent,  upon  the  home  valuation — a  prin- 
ciple of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  revenue  system. 
Mr.  Calhoun  rose  in  the  Senate,  and  gave  his  reluct- 
ant consent  to  Mr.  Clay's  bill.  It  passed  both  houses 
of  Congress,  after  encountering  determined"opposition 
in  each  of  them,  and  South  Carolina  acquiesced  in 
the  measure  of  reconciliation.  Civil  war  was  avert- 
ed, and  the  republic  was  saved.  As  the  storm-cloud 
rolled  away,  the  ship  of  state  was  seen  riding  proud- 
ly over  the  subsiding  billows,  and  it  was  the  hand 
of  Mr.  Clay  which  grasped  the  helm  and  guided  it 
into  the  open  sea.  Illustrious  man!  he  had  twice 
saved  the  republic.  The  North  gave  up,  and  the 

EE 


434      THE   LIFE  AND   CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

South  no  longer  held  back.  Even  Mr.  Clay's  ene- 
mies were  at  peace  with  him.  Mr.  Randolph  was 
seated  in  the  senate-chamber,  lingering  upon  the  thea- 
tre of  his  former  fame,  when  Mr.  Clay  rose  to  speak 
upon  the  Compromise  Bill.  u  Help  me  up,"  he  said 
to  his  half-brother,  Mr.  Tucker;  "I  have  come  here 
to  hear  that  voice."  At  the  close  of  his  speech,  Mr. 
Clay  walked  to  where  Mr.  Randolph  was  seated,  and, 
grasping  each  other's  hands,  they  lost  all  traces  of 
their  former  feud. 

Mr.  Clay  now  belonged  more  than  ever  to  his  coun- 
try. He  stood  upon  a  proud  eminence,  and  the  grat- 
itude of  the  people  for  his  services  rose  to  enthusiasm. 
His  name  mingled  with  the  tones  of  patriotic  exulta- 
tion which  hailed  the  adjustment  of  a  controversy  so 
portentous  all  over  the  country,  and  wherever  he 
traveled,  he  was  greeted  with  acclamations,  and  hon- 
ored with  the  noblest  triumphal  progress  which  ever 
cheered  a  statesman.  He  had  realized  the  reward  so 
exquisitely  expressed  in  those  lines  of  Gray : 

"  The  applause  of  listening  senates  to  command, 

The  threats  of  pain  and  ruin  to  despise — 
To  scatter  plenty  o'er  a  smiling  land, 
9    And  read  his  history  in  a  nation's  eyes." 

Mr.  Clay's  views  in  regard  to  the  public  lands 
were  matured  after  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
subject,  and  he  succeeded  in  carrying  through  both 
houses  of  Congress  a  bill  which  promised  the  best 
results,  and  which  was  only  defeated  by  the  action 
of  the  President,  General  Jackson,  who  retained  it  in 
his  possession  until  after  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress, and  it,  of  course,  failed  to  become  a  law. 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   435 

Mr.  Clay's  views  as  to  the  currency  were  also  well 
matured;  and  it  was  his  opinion  that  a  national 
bank,  in  some  form,  was  important,  if  not  essential 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  Congress  agreed 
with  him,  and  passed  a  bill  for  the  re-charter  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  the  President  met 
with  his  veto.  Then  began  the  fierce  contest  between 
General  Jackson  and  the  bank — a  contest  which 
ended  in  the  destruction  of  the  bank,  but  which  in- 
volved the  country  in  the  heaviest  commercial  disas- 
ters. An  intense  excitement  pervaded  Congress. 
Mr.  Clay  led  the  opposition  to  that  memorable  ad- 
ministration, and  a  more  courageous  or  powerful 
leader  has  never  appeared  in  any  parliamentary  body. 
The  President,  remarkable  for  the  energy  of  his  char- 
acter and  the  strength  of  his  will,  with  a  personal 
popularity  which  seemed  boundless,  and  at  the  head 
of  a  powerful  party,  marshaled  all  his  forces,  and 
hurled  them  against  the  opposing  ranks ;  but  he  was 
confronted  by  a  leader  as  full  of  courage  as  himself, 
and  whose  steady  soul  nothing  could  intimidate — a 
leader  who  roused  the  Senate  to  the  loftiest  spirit  of 
resistance  to  executive  power,  and  who  succeeded  in 
spreading  upon  the  records  of  that  august  body  a 
resolution  condemning  the  course  of  the  President. 

On  the  last  day  of  March,  1842,  Mr.  Clay  rose  to 
take  a  formal,  and,  as  he  supposed,  a  final  leave  of 
that  body.  The  chamber  was  thronged  with  repre- 
sentatives, foreign  ministers,  and  others  who  had  the 
privilege  of  entering  it,  and  the  gallery  was  filled 
with  ladies,  all  eager  to  hear  once  more  the  tones  of 
a  voice  unrivaled  in  its  richness  and  power,  and  to 


436       THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY   CLAY. 

witness  a  scene  which  was  to  be  an  epoch  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  country.  It  has  been  immortalized,  not 
only  by  being  spread  upon  the  pages  which  record 
the  history  of  the  times,  but  the  pencil  of  the  painter 
has  sketched  the  scene  with  life-like  fidelity.  In 
looking  upon  the  picture,  the  great  scenes  of  English 
history  rush  upon  the  mind,  and  the  event  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  last  speech  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  The  speech,  full  of  dignity  and 
pathos,  moved  the  Senate  to  tears.  As  the  last 
words  were  uttered,  "And  now,  Mr.  President  and 
senators,  I  bid  you  all  a  long,  a  lasting,  and  a  friend- 
ly farewell, "  he  resumed  his  seat  amid  a  stillness  as 
unbroken  as  if  the  living  mass  which  thronged  the 
senate-chamber  had  been  the  ideal  creation  of  a  paint- 
er. After  an  interval,  Mr.  Preston,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn  without  proceed- 
ing to  any  business,  and  it  did  so.  Mr.  Clay  stepped 
into  the  area,  when  a  senator,  who,  like  himself,  had 
earned  an  imperishable  fame  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  but  between  whom  and  the  great  statesman 
who  had  just  taken  leave  of  the  Senate  an  estrange- 
ment had  grown  up  in  trying  and  stormy  times,  ap- 
proached him.  It  was  Mr.  Calhoun.  Their  inter- 
course had  been  interrupted  for  five  years,  but  now 
they  grasped  each  other's  hands  and  exchanged  sal- 
utations which  were  prompted  by  their  great  hearts. 
Early  in  the  spring  of  1844,  Mr.  Clay  made  an  ex- 
tensive tour  through  the  Southern  States.  It  was 
well  known  that  he  was  to  be  the  Whig  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  yet  his  opinions  upon  all  political 
questions  which  interested  the  country  were  express- 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   437 

ed  with  perfect  unreserve.  It  became  known  that  a 
negotiation  was  in  progress  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas  to  the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Clay,  without 
hesitation,  announced  his  decided  opposition  to  the 
scheme.  He  addressed  a  letter  to  the  people,  depict- 
ing in  strong  terms  the  dangers  which  surrounded 
the  question ;  for  his  was  a  nature  too  honest  and  too 
proud  to  conceal  any  opinion  for  the  sake  of  acquiring 
power.  Texas  was  in  a  revolutionary  state  ;  her  in- 
dependence had  not  been  acknowledged  by  Mexico, 
and  Mr.  Clay  declared  his  unconquerable  opposition 
to  any  plan  of  annexation  which  did  not  embrace 
that  republic  as  a  party.  With  a  full  knowledge  of 
his  opinions,  he  was  nominated  by  the  Whigs  for 
the  presidency  with  an  enthusiasm  which  promised  a 
brilliant  victory.  For  some  months  it  seemed  to  the 
American  people  that  Mr.  Clay  would  be  elected  by 
acclamation.  His  splendid  reputation,  his  illustrious 
public  services,  his  acknowledged  ability  and  expe- 
rience as  a  statesman,  the  popular  confidence  which 
he  enjoyed  so  largely,  all  seemed  to  render  his  success 
certain ;  but,  as  the  canvass  advanced,  it  was  perceived 
that  his  opinions  in  regard  to  Texas  alienated  friends, 
and  rendered  doubtful  a  contest  which  had  opened 
for  him  so  auspiciously.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  had 
been  looked  to  as  the  opposing  candidate,  had  been 
set  aside  by  the  Democratic  Convention  on  account 
of  his  declared  opposition  to  the  annexation  of  Tex- 
as, and  Mr.  Polk,  an  ardent  friend  of  the  measure,  re- 
ceived the  nomination.  The  result  is  well  known. 
The  canvass  turned  upon  the  Texas  question;  the 
popular  feeling  in  favor  of  the  measure  rose  so  high 


438      THE    LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

as  to  surmount  every  other  consideration,  and  Mr. 
Clay,  with  his  brilliant  personal  qualities  and  his 
great  public  services,  failed  to  reach  the  presidency. 
Coriolanus  was  refused  the  consulship  of  the  people, 
though  his  scars  had  for  a  time  influenced  them  in 
his  favor. 

Mr.  Clay  re-entered  the  Senate  on  the  third  day  of 
December,  1849,  and  was  welcomed  to  a  seat  in  that 
body  by  the  assembled  senators  from  every  state,  and 
by  the  voice  of  the  American  people.  The  state  of 
the  country  induced  him  to  return  to  a  seat  which  he 
had  relinquished,  as  he  supposed,  forever.  The  re- 
sults of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  which  he  had  so 
clearly  foreseen,  and  against  which  he  had  warned 
the  country,  had  occurred,  and  he  came,  in  the  midst 
of  the  dangers  which  surrounded  the  republic,  to  res- 
cue and  to  save  it,  or  to  perish  with  it. 

The  war  with  Mexico  had  been  brought  to  a  close 
by  a  treaty  which  left  us  in  possession  of  new  and 
extensive  territories.  Portentous  questions  grew  out 
of  the  splendid  acquisition. 

The  discovery  of  exhaustless  beds  of  gold  in  Cali- 
fornia attracted  thousands  to  its  distant  shores,  and 
a  bold,  intelligent,  and  spirited  people,  finding  them- 
selves on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific  without  a  regular 
government,  organized  a  state,  and  applied  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union.  Territorial  governments 
were  demanded  for  the  protection  of  the  people 
spreading  over  the  vast  regions  now  known  as  New 
Mexico  and  Utah.  Texas  insisted  upon  the  recog- 
nition of  her  boundaries,  stretching  to  the  Rio  Grande 
del  Norte  and  running  far  into  New  Mexico,  To 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   439 

complicate  these  great  subjects  of  legislation  still  far- 
ther, an  alarming  question,  which  has  more  than  once 
threatened  the  disruption  of  the  government,  sprang 
up — the  question  of  slavery.  The  people  of  Califor- 
nia had,  by  their  Constitution,  prohibited  the  intro- 
duction of  slaves  within  the  limits  of  the  large  state 
carved  out  of  the  new  territory,  and  it  was  proposed 
to  prohibit  their  introduction  into  the  Territories  of 
New  Mexico  and  Utah  by  an  act  of  Congress.  The 
anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  country  was  roused  into 
new  activity  by  these  momentous  questions,  and  it 
became  more  imperious  and  exacting  in  its  demands. 
It  announced  that  the  limits  of  slavery  were  forever 
fixed.  As  if  these  disturbing  elements  were  insuffi- 
cient to  agitate  the  country  and  endanger  the  govern- 
ment, they  were  inflamed  yet  more  by  an  attempt  to 
confine  Texas  within  narrower  limits  than  those  to 
which  that  young  and  gallant  state  was  entitled — 
even  leaving  out  of  view  her  claim  upon  the  mag- 
nanimity of  the  United  States — and  to  bring  about  a 
collision  between  her  people  and  the  troops  of  the 
general  government  by  precipitating  a  decision  ad- 
verse to  her  claims. 

The  convulsion  that  shook  the  country  while  Con- 
gress was  engaged  in  settling  these  momentous  ques- 
tions is  too  recent  to  make  it  necessary  to  describe  it. 
The  ocean,  when  it  has  been  swept  by  a  tempest, 
even  when  the  skies  have  cleared  up,  continues  to 
heave  its  billows  and  to  send  its  surges  against  the 
resounding  shore,  and  we  find  ourselves  yet  in  the 
midst  of  political  events  which  remind  us  of  the 
strength  and  fury  of  the  storm  with  which  the  coun- 


440     THE  LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

try  was  so  lately  visited.  But  we  to-day  send  up, 
from  hearts  glowing  with  gratitude,  our  fervent 
thanks  to  Almighty  God  that  the  heavens  are  cloud- 
less; that  the  republic  covers  with  its  protecting  ea- 
gles kindred  states  touching  on  the  one  side  the  At- 
lantic and  on  the  other  the  Pacific  waters,  and  that 
its  great  standard,  hailed  all  over  the  world  as  the 
banner  of  freedom,  still  displays  upon  its  ample  folds 
the  gorgeous  emblem  of  the  UNION  which  constitutes 
us  one  people.  Mr.  Clay  is  eminently  entitled  to  the 
merit  of  the  success  of  the  great  measures  which  res- 
cued the  country  from  its  perils.  He  brought  for- 
ward, at  an  early  day,  his  Report  and  Bill  from  the 
Committee  of  Thirteen,  which  proposed  to  admit  Cal- 
ifornia as  a  state  into  the  Union ;  to  establish  Terri- 
torial governments  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah  with- 
out any  prohibition  of  slavery,  and  to  tender  propo- 
sals to  Texas  for  the  establishment  of  her  western  and 
northern  boundaries  which  could  not  fail  to  be  satis- 
factory to  that  state — measures  which  he  continued 
to  advocate,  with  unabated  ardor  and  exhaustless  en- 
ergy, up  to  the  day  of  their  triumphant  passage 
through  both  houses  of  Congress.  The  great  task 
which  he  had  undertaken  upon  entering  the  Senate 
was  accomplished.  He  had  saved  the  republic  for 
the  third  time.  It  was  the  boast  of  Antony  over  the 
body  of  Caesar,  that,  although  he  had  fallen  under 
the  avenging  dagger  of  Brutus,  he  had  thrice  refused 
a  kingly  crown.  How  transcendently  does  the  form 
of  Mr.  Clay  rise  above  that  of  the  Roman  when  we 
fix  our  eyes  upon  him  in  the  last  great  act  of  his  ca- 
reer, and  see  him  as  he  stands  in  the  sublime  attitude 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   441 

of  an  American  senator  who  had  thrice  saved  his 
country  from  civil  war !  Themistocles  earned  imper- 
ishable fame  by  the  victory  which  he  achieved  over 
the  Persians  in  the  Bay  of  Salamis,  but  what  was 
such  a  victory,  brilliant  as  it  was,  compared  with  that 
great  civic  achievement  of  Mr.  Clay  which  crowned 
his  long  and  illustrious  life  ? 

After  the  accomplishment  of  his  last  great  task, 
Mr.  Clay's  health  gradually  declined.  He  returned 
to  "Washington,  at  the  opening  of  the  late  session  of 
Congress,  to  defend  the  measures  to  which  he  had 
consecrated  his  last  days.  But  the  great  soul  which 
had  so  long  urged  his  enfeebled  body  to  patriotic 
tasks  could  no  longer  command  his  failing  strength. 
Unable  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Sen- 
ate, he  remained  almost  constantly  in  his  chamber. 
The  hope  of  visiting  Ashland,  and  of  closing  his  days 
in  the  sacred  retirement  of  his  home,  for  some  time 
cheered  him.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate, 
intending  to  quit  Washington  at  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sion of  Congress.  Spring  came,  with  its  genial  influ- 
ence reviving  the  face  of  Nature,  but  it  brought  with 
it  no  restoration  to  the  declining  powers  of  Mr.  Clay. 

The  hope  of  revisiting  Ashland  was  relinquished, 
and  he  calmly  awaited  the  stroke  of  death.  In  the 
summer  of  1847  he  had  become  a  member  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  he  found  now  in 
his  chamber,  about  which  the  shadows  of  death  were 
beginning  to  close,  the  cheering  and  sustaining  power 
of  an  immortal  hope.  The  dying  statesman  gradu- 
ally withdrew  his  thoughts  from  the  affairs  of  this 
world.  He  was  never  more  to  stand  in  the  senate- 


442      THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

chamber — never  again  to  sway  the  passions  of  as- 
sembled thousands  by  his  resistless  eloquence.  The 
eyes  which  had  flashed  with  patriotic  fire  were  filled 
now  with  the  mild  radiance  of  the  heaven  to  which 
they  were  turned.  He  spoke  of  his  family,  his  friends, 
and  his  country,  and  said  to  a  friend,  UI  am  not 
afraid  to  die,  sir.  I  have  faith,  hope,  and  some  con- 
fidence. I  do  not  think  any  man  can  be  entirely  cer- 
tain in  regard  to  his  future  state,  but  I  have  an  abid- 
ing trust  in  the  merits  and  mediation  of  our  Savior." 
The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  adminis- 
tered to  him,  and  he  meekly  received  those  emblems 
of  a  death  out  of  which  spring  our  immortal  hopes. 
He  expired  tranquilly  on  the  29th  of  June,  in  the 
76th  year  of  his  age. 

"  Statesman,  yet  friend  to  truth,  of  soul  sincere, 
Of  action  faithful,  and  in  honor  clear, 
Who  broke  no  promise,  served  no  private  end, 
Who  gained  no  title,  and  who  lost  no  friend ; 
Ennobled  by  himself,  by  all  approved, 
Praised,  wept,  and  honored  by  the  land  he  loved." 

The  announcement  of  Mr.  Clay's  death  produced 
throughout  the  whole  country  the  deepest  sensation. 
It  struck  most  hearts  as  if  the  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  a  personal  friend  had  reached  them,  and  the 
whole  people  rose  up  to  pay  such  honors  to  his  mem- 
ory as  had  never  been  accorded  to  any  statesman  of 
this  country. 

The  popular  enthusiasm  which  was  accustomed  to 
greet  him  in  his  travels,  was  now  converted  into  a 
pervading  grief,  which  covered  the  multitudes  who 
thronged  about  his  honored  remains  as  they  were 
borne  to  the  tomb,  with  the  habiliments  of  a  mourn- 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OP  HENRY  CLAY.   443 

ing  distinguished  as  much  for  its  depth  and  sincerity 
as  for  its  solemn  magnificence. 

Mr.  Clay's  cast  of  character  was  American — dis- 
tinctly American.  It  was  his  aim  to  develop  the 
resources  of  his  country,  and  to  elevate  it  to  a  height 
of  prosperity  and  grandeur  never  before  reached  by 
any  nation  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  His  plans 
were  bold  and  comprehensive,  looking  to  the  happi- 
ness and  glory  of  the  whole  republic  rather  than  to 
the  advancement  of  any  particular  section.  He  com- 
prehended the  complex  character  of  our  government; 
and  while  he  left  local  interests  to  the  protection  of 
the  states  where  they  existed,  he  devoted  his  energies 
to  the  support  of  great  measures,  whose  success  he 
deemed  essential  to  the  full  development  of  the 
boundless  elements  of  wealth  and  power  which  the 
nation  possessed.  He  has  been  charged  with  a  pur- 
pose to  enrich  one  section  of  the  country  at  the  ex- 
pense of  another,  but  no  man  ever  less  deserved  the 
charge.  He  could  not  belong  to  a  section,  but  he 
gave  his  great  faculties  to  the  cause  of  his  country — 
his  whole  country. 

The  lofty  summit  upon  which  he  stood  as  a  states- 
man enabled  him  to  see  the  country  in  its  broadest 
extent ;  and  while  many  stood  upon  a  lower  level — 
would  see  only  the  narrow  district  to  which  they 
happened  to  belong — his  eyes  swept  the  remotest 
verge  of  the  vast  domain  embraced  by  our  govern- 
ment. Fortunately,  most  of  the  great  questions 
which  have  arrayed  the  American  people  in  oppos- 
ing parties  have  been  national  and  not  sectional.  A 
settled  geographical  division  of  parties,  such  as  on 


444     THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY    CLAY. 

one  or  two  occasions  we  have  witnessed,  would  be 
fatal  to  the  republic. 

Mr.  Clay  was,  beyond  a  question,  the  noblest  illus- 
tration of  a  national  statesman  which  his  country 
has  ever  produced.  He  kept  his  views  rigidly  within 
the  limits  of  the  Constitution,  but  within  those  limits 
all  his  faculties  were  employed  in  a  steady  and  he- 
roic struggle  to  give  success  to  systems  embracing 
the  interests  of  the  American  people. 

His  AMERICAN  SYSTEM  was  an  illustration  of  the 
breadth  and  nationality  of  his  views.  The  South 
opposed  it  generally,  but  even  here  opinion  was  di- 
vided in  regard  to  it.  The  opinion,  however,  that  its 
tendency  was  to  foster  the  manufacturing  enterprises 
of  the  North  at  the  expense  of  the  planting  interest 
of  the  South  gradually  gained  ground  with  us,  and 
the  utmost  hostility  existed  against  it  in  most  of  the 
Southern  States.  But  Mr.  Clay's  aim  never  was  for 
a  moment  to  depress  the  one  section  and  elevate  the 
other.  He  believed  that  the  system  would  be  so  ad- 
justed by  a  wise  discrimination  in  fixing  the  duties 
on  imports  as  to  result  in  an  actual  benefit  to  the 
whole  country,  making  us  independent  of  foreign  es- 
tablishments, preventing  the  balance  of  trade  against 
us  with  other  countries,  and  securing  to  the  Southern 
people  a  domestic  market  for  their  products  above 
that  which  they  could  find  elsewhere.  His  magnifi- 
cent system  of  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS,  limited  to  ob- 
jects strictly  national,  was  also  the  result  of  the  com- 
prehensive views  which  characterized  him  as  a  states- 
man. If  he  had  administered  the  government,  it 
would  not  have  been  necessary  to  associate  any  one 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   445 

with  him  to  keep  the  supreme  executive  power  from 
swerving  from  a  national  course.  The  two  councils 
of  Rome  did  not  look  more  steadily  to  the  glory  of 
the  empire  than  he  would  have  looked  to  the  glory 
of  the  republic.  Mr.  Clay's  nationality  was  the  re- 
sult of  a  profound  study  of  the  nature  of  our  govern- 
ment— of  the  character  of  the  American  people. 

He  contended  for  what  seemed  to  him  a  just  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution,  and  he  felt  that,  while 
a  narrower  interpretation  of  its  meaning  might  save 
the  government  from  occasional  abuses,  it  would,  at 
the  same  time,  deny  to  it  the  powers  which  it  really 
possessed,  and  render  that  a  feeble  and  an  inefficient 
system  which  was  designed  to  be  a  great  and  benefi- 
cent one. 

Some  of  our  statesmen,  apprehending  danger  from 
the  power  of  the  central  government,  have  steadily 
resisted  its  growth,  and,  like  Patrick  Henry,  have 
sought  to  hedge  it  in,  as  if  it  were  a  formidable  des- 
potism. With  them  the  President  is  a  monarch 
likely  to  become  a  despot.  Others  have  desired  to 
usurp  the  rights  of  the  states,  and  to  build  up  a  pow- 
erful consolidated  government. 

Mr.  Clay  escaped  both  these  extremes,  and  planted 
himself  upon  ground  which  the  eminent  French 
statesman,  Casimir  Perrier,  would  have  pronounced 
le  juste  milieu.  He  recognized  the  rights  of  the 
states,  and  he  claimed  for  the  federal  government  its 
full  power.  Mr.  Clay  has  been  charged  with  ambi- 
tion. That  he  deserved  to  attain  power  it  would  be 
useless  to  deny.  Where  is  the  statesman  of  noble 
aims  and  great  abilities  who  does  not  desire  it  ?  The 


446       THE   LIFE    AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

remark  of  Burke  is  a  philosophical  truth,  "Ambition 
is  the  malady  of  every  extensive  genius."  But  Mr. 
Clay's  ambition  was  pure  and  generous. 

He  never  sought  to  attain  power  by  unworthy 
means;  he  never  swerved  from  the  direct  path  of 
duty  to  conciliate  public  favor.  His  sympathies  with 
the  people  were  full  and  sincere,  but  he  never  pan- 
dered to  their  passions  or  bent  before  their  clamors. 
His  opinions  upon  all  subjects  were  frankly  express- 
ed ;  he  disdained  concealment.  He  never  surrender- 
ed his  own  independent  sentiments,  but  courageously 
encountered  the  fiercest  opposition  to  them,  whether 
that  opposition  was  presented  by  executive  power,  or 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people,  or  by  the  people 
themselves.  His  remark,  made  to  his  friend,  Mr. 
Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  revealed  his  character. 
In  reply  to  a  suggestion  that  the  opinion  which  he 
was  about  to  avow  on  a  certain  occasion  might  affect 
his  position  before  the  people,  and  endanger  his  elec- 
tion to  the  presidency,  he  exclaimed,  "I  would  rather 
be  right  than  be  President."  The  heroic  sentiment 
will  become  immortal.  Mr.  Clay  did  not  exhibit  the 
Roman  sternness  which  characterized  Mr.  Calhoun, 
yet  he  possessed  firmness  in  the  highest  degree.  No 
man  could  plant  himself  more  resolutely  in  defense 
of  a  position  than  Mr.  Clay.  Like  Fitz-James,  he 
would  have  met  the  whole  band  of  Roderick  Dhu 
without  the  yielding  of  a  muscle. 

Yet  no  statesman  of  our  country  was  ever  so  con- 
ciliatory. "Whatever  may  have  been  his  ambition,  it 
always  gave  way  before  the  call  of  his  country.  He 
would  meet,  unmoved,  any  dangers  which  threatened 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   447 

him  personally,  but  he  relinquished,  without  reluct- 
ance, his  most  cherished  opinions  when  the  welfare 
of  his  country  demanded  the  sacrifice. 

"When  urging  upon  the  Senate  the  adoption  of  his 
Compromise  Bill  for  adjusting  the  perilous  contest 
with  South  Carolina,  he  said,  "If  I  had  yielded  my- 
self to  the  dictates  of  a  cold,  calculating,  and  pruden- 
tial public  policy,  I  would  have  stood  still  and  un- 
moved. I  might  even  have  silently  gazed  on  the  rag- 
ing storm,  enjoyed  its  loudest  thunders,  and  left  those 
who  were  charged  with  the  care  of  the  vessel  of  state 
to  conduct  it  as  they  could."  But  he  hastened  to  re- 
store harmony  to  a  distracted  land.  Mr.  Clay's  at- 
tachment to  the  Union  was  profound  and  unconquer- 
able. His  failure  to  reach  the  highest  office  in  the 
country  never  alienated  his  affections.  "While  others 
enjoyed  the  supreme  power,  he  never  ceased  to  labor 
for  the  good  of  Rome.  No  personal  success  could 
have  compensated  him  if  his  elevation  to  power  had 
endangered  the  perpetuity  of  the  government. 

He  believed  our  system  to  be  capable  of  vast  ex- 
pansion ;  and  when  he  saw  our  institutions  seated  on 
the  Pacific  shores,  he  insisted  that  Congress  should 
promptly  receive  into  the  Union  the  State  of  Califor- 
nia. A  republic  covering  the  continent  with  its  in- 
stitutions, and  gathering  under  one  common  govern- 
ment the  mighty  population  spread  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  was  the  vision  which  filled  his  heart 
with  exultation  as  he  looked  out  upon  his  country 
for  the  last  time.  He  sought  to  strengthen  the  gov- 
ernment, not  by  usurpations  of  power,  but  by  meas- 
ures which  would  bind  the  remotest  parts  of  the  coun- 


448       THE   LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY   CLAY. 

try  in  willing  and  indestructible  political  bands.  He 
preferred  to  carry  his  measures  by  enlisting  in  their 
support  men  of  all  parties,  rather  than  to  press  them 
upon  the  country  by  the  mere  power  of  disciplined 
numbers.  He  saw  clearly  all  the  aspects  of  every 
question;  and  while  his  own  courage  was  never  in- 
timidated, nor  his  resolute  purpose  ever  shaken,  he 
was  at  all  times  ready  to  modify  his  measures,  so  far 
as  they  could  be  modified  without  impairing  their 
efficiency,  or  sacrificing  the  principles  upon  which 
they  were  based,  that  he  might  make  them  acceptable 
to' those  who  did  not  agree  with  him.  As  a  parlia- 
mentary leader,  Mr.  Clay  has  never  been  equaled  in 
this  country.  He  combined  with  great  abilities  that 
faculty  so  important  to  success  in  political  life — tact. 
His  abilities  commanded  the  attention  of  the  polit- 
ical bodies  in  whose  debates  he  took  part,  and  his 
tact  enabled  him  to  carry  his  measures. 

He  was  the  boldest  of  all  our  statesmen.  Wheth- 
er in  the  House  of  Representatives  sustaining  an  ad- 
ministration, or  in  the  Senate  opposing  the  govern- 
ment, his  courage  never  sunk  for  a  moment,  and  his 
crest  rose  still  higher  when  leading  the  opposition 
than  it  did  when  defending  its  powers. 

He  attacked  the  government,  however  powerfully 
intrenched,  with  as  much  vigor  as  Richard  Coeur  de 
Lion  did  the  castle  of  Front-de-Boeuf,  when  he  thun- 
dered against  its  gates  with  his  battle-axe,  amid  the 
missiles  which  were  showered  upon  him  from  its  de- 
fenders, regarding  them  no  more  than  if  they  had 
been  feathers  or  the  thistle's  down ;  and  his  eye,  flash- 
ing along  the  wavering  columns  of  his  allies,  fired 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   449 

them  with  his  own  indomitable  spirit.  For  years 
he  presented  to  General  Jackson  a  front  which  never 
blenched,  and  he  defied  his  boundless  popular  power 
with  a  steady  and  heroic  firmness  which  won  for  him 
the  admiration  of  friends  and  foes,  and  presented  to 
the  country  the  noblest  illustration  of  the  august 
character  of  an  AMERICAN  SENATOR  which  has  ever 
been  witnessed. 

He  possessed  the  qualities  which  would  have  made 
him  a  transcendently  great  military  leader :  the  high 
courage — the  quick  perception — the  comprehensive 
view  of  details  scattered  over  a  wide  field — the  de- 
cision which  adopts,  without  hesitation,  the  true 
course  of  action — the  power  to  infuse  his  own  ardor 
into  the  bosoms  of  those  about  him,  and  the  faculty 
of  inspiring  the  followers  of  his  standard  with  un- 
doubted confidence  in  his  abilities. 

It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Madison  would  have 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  army  in  the  last  war 
with  England  if  he  could  have  been  spared  from  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

Mr.  Clay's  intellectual  powers  pre-eminently  fitted 
him  for  a  parliamentary  career.  Without  the  mass- 
ive strength  of  Mr.  Webster,  or  the  condensed  and 
logical  force  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  he  was  more  efficient 
than  either.  His  mind  was  not  in  the  least  degree 
metaphysical ;  it  was  altogether  practical,  rapid,  and 
direct.  He  was  capable  of  profound  and  patient 
analysis,  and  he  has,  in  some  of  his  more  elaborate 
speeches,  displayed  this  faculty  with  high  success; 
but  he  preferred  to  present  the  great  features  of  a 
subject,  that  it  might  be  seen  whole,  rather  than  to 

FF 


450       THE    LIFE    AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY    CLAY. 

pursue  its  remote  and  less  striking  relations.  His 
mind  was  characterized  by  originality,  power,  and 
comprehensiveness.  His  resources  were  inexhaust- 
ible. The  measures  which  Mr.  Clay  conceived  and 
brought  before  Congress  displayed  statesmanship  of 
the  very  highest  order,  and  his  fame  will  rest  upon 
them  as  firmly  as  a  mountain,  lifting  its  head  to  the 
heavens,  stands  upon  its  granite  base. 

As  an  ORATOR,  Mr.  Clay  stood  unrivaled  among 
the  statesmen  of  our  times ;  and  if  the  power  of  a 
statesman  is  to  be  measured  by  the  control  which  he 
exerts  over  an  audience,  he  will  take  rank  among  the 
most  illustrious  men  who,  in  ancient  or  modern  times, 
have  decided  great  questions  by  resistless  eloquence. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  finest  type  of  the  pure  Greek 
intellect  which  this  country  has  ever  produced.  His 
speeches  resemble  Grecian  sculpture,  with  all  the  pu- 
rity and  hardness  of  marble,  while  they  show  that 
the  chisel  was  guided  by  the  hand  of  a  master.  De- 
mosthenes transcribed  the  history  of  Thucydides 
eight  times,  that  he  might  acquire  the  strength  and 
majesty  of  his  style,  and  Mr.  Calhoun  had  evidently 
studied  the  orations  of  the  great  Athenian  with  equal 
fidelity.  He  had  much  of  his  force  and  ardor,  and 
his  bearing  was  so  full  of  dignity  that  it  was  easy  to 
fancy,  when  you  heard  him,  that  you  were  listening 
to  an  oration  from  the  lips  of  a  Homan  senator,  who 
had  formed  his  style  in  the  severe  schools  of  Greece. 
Mr.  "Webster's  oratory  reaches  the  highest  pitch  of 
grandeur.  He  combines  the  pure  philosophical  fac- 
ulty of  investigation  which  characterized  the  Greek 
mind  with  the  athletic  power  and  majesty  which  be- 


THE   LIFE    AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY    CLAY.      451 

longed  to  the  Roman  style.  There  is  in  his  orations 
a  blended  strength  and  beauty  surpassing  any  thing 
to  be  found  in  ancient  or  modern  productions.  He 
stands  like  a  statue  of  Hercules  wrought  out  of  gold. 
He  has  been  sometimes  called  the  Demosthenes  of 
this  country,  but  the  attributes  which  he  displayed 
are  not  those  which  belonged  to  the  Athenian  orator. 
His  speeches  display  the  same  power  and  beauty, 
and  equal,  if  they  do  not  surpass,  in  consummate 
ability,  the  noblest  orations  of  Demosthenes ;  but  he 
wants  the  vehemence,  the  boldness,  the  impetuosity 
of  the  orator  who  wielded  the  fierce  democracy  of 
Athens  at  his  will,  and  who,  in  his  impassioned  ha- 
rangues, u  shook  the  Arsenal,  and  fulmined  over 
Greece." 

Mr.  Clay's  oratory  differed  from  that  of  Mr.  Web- 
ster and  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  it  was  more  effective 
than  that  of  either  of  his  contemporaries.  Less  philo- 
sophical than  the  one,  and  less  majestic  than  the  oth- 
er, he  surpassed  them  both  in  the  sway  which  he  ex- 
erted over  the  assemblies  which  he  addressed.  Clear, 
convincing,  impassioned,  and  powerful,  he  spoke  the 
language  of  truth  in  its  most  commanding  tones,  and 
the  deductions  of  reason  uttered  from  his  lips  seem- 
ed to  have  caught  the  glow  of  inspiration. 

Lord  Brougham  thinks  that  the  ancient  orators 
fell  nearly  as  far  short  of  the  modern  in  the  sub- 
stance of  their  orations,  as  they  surpass  them  in  their 
composition. 

He  attributes  this  to  the  character  of  modern  as- 
semblies, which  are  places  of  business,  where  practical 
questions  are  discussed,  and  where  the  audience  must 


452      THE    LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   HENRY   CLAY. 

be  convinced,  and  not  merely  entertained.  Mr.  Clay 
was  eminently  successful  in  addressing  such  assem- 
blies. His  large  views,  his  sterling  sense,  the  energy 
of  his  character,  the  earnestness  of  his  manner,  the 
sympathy  between  his  mind  and  his  body,  gave  him 
an  ascendency  over  the  intellect  and  the  passions 
never  displayed  by  any  other  American  statesman. 
His  form  was  tall  and  commanding ;  his  voice  was 
unrivaled  for  its  compass  and  richness ;  and  when  he 
rose  to  animation  in  speaking,  his  countenance  was 
lighted  up  with  a  glow  which  shed  a  lustre  upon  his 
whole  person.  His  sensibility  was  deep,  and  some- 
times displayed  itself  in  the  most  affecting  manner. 
In  the  debates  of  the  Compromise  measures  of  the 
last  Congress,  it  became  proper  for  him,  as  a  senator, 
to  allude  to  his  son  who  fell  at  Buena  Vista.  He 
was  for  a  moment  overcome  with  emotion,  and,  put- 
ting his  hand  before  his  eyes,  he  sought  in  vain  to 
repress  the  tears  which  gushed  from  them.  These 
elements  constituted  him  the  prince  of  orators  ;  and 
whether  before  the  Senate,  or  in  the  midst  of  the  peo- 
ple in  their  great  assemblies,  he  asserted  and  main- 
tained a  dominion  which  none  could  dispute  with 
him.  He  realized  Mr.  Webster's  description  of  ora- 
tory: "The  clear  conception  outrunning  the  deduc- 
tions of  logic ;  the  high  purpose ;  the  firm  resolve ; 
the  dauntless  spirit,  speaking  on  the  tongue,  beaming 
from  the  eye,  informing  every  feature,  and  urging 
the  whole  man  onward,  right  onward,  to  his  object : 
this,  this  is  eloquence,  or,  rather,  it  is  something 
greater  and  higher  than  eloquence ;  it  is  action — 
noble,  sublime,  god-like  action."  His  noblest  efforts 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   453 

were  invested  with  a  fiery  splendor;  and  he  rushed 
onward  in  his  impetuous  career,  like  an  ancient 
hero,  upon  poised  feet,  his  formidable  spear  lifted 
in  his  strong  right  hand,  the  wheels  of  his  chariot 
glowing  from  the  velocity  of  the  onset,  and  their 
scythes  sweeping  down  the  adversaries  that  stood  in 
his  way. 

In  conversation  Mr.  Clay  excelled.  Always  ready, 
sometimes  playful,  often  brilliant,  there  was  a  fas- 
cination in  his  manner  which  drew  around  him 
friends  outside  of  the  circle  of  his  political  associates, 
and  his  frankness  and  generosity  gave  an  indescriba- 
ble charm  to  social  life. 

"  He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all, 
We  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again." 

Yet,  with  all  these  brilliant  personal  qualities, 
Henry  Clay  never  became  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  In  looking  back  to  the  times  in  which  Mr. 
Clay,  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  Mr.  Webster  lived,  the  suc- 
ceeding generations  will  be  at  a  loss  to  account  for 
the  fact  that  neither  of  them  ever  attained  the  high- 
est goal  of  their  ambition.  In  Rome  they  would 
have  divided  the  consulship.  In  England  they  would 
have  administered  the  government,  and  have  received 
the  highest  aristocratic  distinctions.  In  this  repub- 
lic they  could  never  reach  the  highest  post  in  the 
government.  Two  of  the  great  triumvirate  have 
passed  away  from  the  world;  their  course  is  run. 
The  third  yet  lingers  upon  the  field  of  his  glory,  but 
without  the  slightest  prospect  of  reaching  the  pres- 
idency. Indeed,  that  splendid  orb  which  has  so 
long  lighted  our  heavens  is  rapidly  descending  to- 


454       THE    LIFE    AND    CHARACTER    OF    HENRY    CLAY. 

ward  the  horizon,  and  will  soon  disappear  from  it 
forever. 

The  theory  of  our  government  requires  a  first-rate 
man  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  administration. 
In  England  the  sovereign  power  is  vested  in  a  hered- 
itary monarch.  His  capacity  is  a  matter  of  no  great 
moment ;  the  first  minister  of  the  crown  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  government.  But  with  us,  the  sovereign- 
ty resides  with  the  people,  and  the  President  ought 
to  be  a  man  of  the  highest  order,  for  he  holds  the 
same  relation  to  our  government  that  the  prime  min- 
ister holds  to  the  British  government. 

In  reviewing  Mr.  Clay's  career,  the  wonder  is 
that  he  could  have  failed  to  become  President.  The 
statue  of  Brutus  left  out  of  the  procession  will 
awaken  inquiry  as  to  the  cause.  Cromwell  is  not 
allowed  to  rank  with  the  sovereigns  of  England,  al- 
though he  controlled  the  government  as  Protector, 
and  gave  the  country  the  wisest  and  most  brilliant 
administration  which  it  ever  enjoyed.  Henry  Clay, 
who  has  impressed  his  great  character  upon  the  in- 
stitutions of  this  country,  never  became  its  president. 
But  it  is  perhaps  well  that  he  died  without  reaching 
that  station. 

His  immortal  words,  "I  would  rather  be  right 
than  be  President,"  will  thrill  upon  the  hearts  of 
the  statesmen  of  the  country,  and  animate  them  to  a 
nobler  aim  than  a  mere  lust  of  power. 

They  will  strive  to  serve  their  country,  and  to 
bear  with  them  to  the  grave  the  consciousness  of  de- 
serving its  honors,  even  if  the  laurel  should  never 
encircle  their  brows. 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  CLAY.   455 

Mr.  Clay's  fame  is  imperishable;  no  office  could 
have  added  to  its  towering  grandeur,  or  have  shed 
upon  it  any  additional  lustre.  It  was  becoming  that 
he  should  die,  as  he  had  lived,  "THE  GREAT  COM- 


MONER." 


DANIEL  WEBSTER— HIS  GENIUS  AND 
CHARACTER. 

AN  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  LITERARY  CLUB  AND  CITIZENS  OF  MONTGOM- 
ERY, ALABAMA,  DECEMBER,  1854. 

ME.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN,  —  We 
should  read  the  history  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  an  em- 
pire to  little  purpose  if  we  failed  to  discover  the 
causes  which  produced  its  prosperity  or  sapped  its 
strength,  and  it  would  be  an  idle  task  to  recount  the 
events  of  a  great  life  if  we  could  not  comprehend  the 
elements  which  constituted  its  greatness. 

When  a  great  man  passes  away  from  the  world, 
we  review  his  career,  we  linger  over  the  grand  pas- 
sages of  his  life — his  adversities  and  his  triumphs ; 
but,  while  we  desire  to  know  what  he  has  performed, 
we  are  far  more  deeply  interested  in  discerning  what 
he  has  thought  and  what  he  has  felt.  The  external 
life,  whatever  may  be  its  splendor,  interests  us  less 
than  the  great  soul  itself.  We  study  great  historic 
periods  not  merely  that  we  may  trace  the  changing 
fortunes  of  a  dynasty  or  the  eventful  progress  of  a 
nation,  but  we  seek  to  read  in  the  facts  spread  out 
before  us  the  philosophy  which  they  teach. 

We  fpllow  the  hero  from  the  battle-field  and  the 
statesman  from  the  senate-chamber  that  we  may 
study  the  man ;  we  seek  to  analyze  him,  and  to  read 
the  soul  which  makes  him  what  he  really  is — which 


DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER.    457 

imparts  to  his  life  the  heroism  and  the  grandeur 
which  the  world  has  discovered  and  applauded. 
Nothing  interests  us  so  much  as  character. 

It  is  our  purpose  this  evening  to  exhibit,  so  far  as 
we  can  in  so  brief  a  period,  the  character  of  a  great 
statesman,  who,  as  Clarendon  says  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  lately  rode  in  the  troubled  and  bois- 
terous waters  of  public  affairs  as  admiral,  and  to  pre- 
sent the  qualities  which,  in  their  grand  assemblage, 
gave  him  his  pre-eminence  among  the  men  of  our 
times. 

The  traveler  who  visits  the  Alps  feels  his  concep- 
tions of  the  sublime  heightened  as  he  beholds  that 
great  mountain  range  lifting  its  ice-clad  summits  to 
the  cloud-region.  The  soul,  exalted  and  ennobled, 
enjoys  a  glorious  communion  with  nature. 

But  when  the  glance  is  turned  upon  Mont  Blanc, 
standing  in  solitary  grandeur,  its  head  crowned  with 
everlasting  glaciers,  and  towering  above  all  surround- 
ing objects,  we  recognize  it  at  once  as  a  monarch, 
peerless  amid  the  colossal  forms  which  stand  about 
it,  and  unapproachable  in  its  eternal  majesty. 

So,  in  exploring  the  civil  history  of  our  country, 
when  the  eye  glances  along  the  line  of  illustrious  men 
who  have  lived  and  died  in  the  service  of  the  repub- 
lic, it  rests  upon  the  form  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER  as  its 
grand  proportions  stand  out  before  us  against  the 
sky  of  the  past. 

Of  his  services  to  his  party  we  have  nothing  to 
say,  but  of  the  majesty  of  his  intellect,  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  his  pen,  of  the  power  of  his  eloquence — 
greater  than  any  which  the  world  has  heard  since  it 


458    DANIEL   WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

listened  to  the  impetuous  Athenian — of  the  grandeur 
of  his  character  we  wish  to  speak. 

As  we  approach  Athens  from  the  sea,  we  look 
upon  the  tomb  of  Theinistocles,  a  splendid  tribute  to 
his  memory  reared  by  his  countrymen,  who  during 
his  life  disputed  as  to  his  merits,  but  who  felt  that 
after  his  death  they  might  all  claim  a  share  in  his 
fame.  "While  standing  upon  the  shore  and  looking 
upon  the  sea,  where  his  great  exploits  had  been  per- 
formed, all  was  forgotten  but  the  heroic  life  which 
they  had  witnessed.  Not  in  New  England  alone — 
not  in  Massachusetts  only,  whose  history  her  illustri- 
ous senator  said  the  world  knew  by  heart — not  in 
that  extensive  and  powerful  part  of  the  confederacy 
known  as  the  North  is  the  fame  of  Webster  to  be 
cherished ;  it  is  a  heritage  which  belongs  to  the  w^hole 
nation,  and  men  may  be  proud  of  it  every  where, 
from  the  forests  of  Maine  to  that  distant  Californian 
coast  wrashed  by  the  Pacific  wave. 

How  refreshing  it  is  to  escape  from  the  dust,  and 
the  clamor,  and  the  fierce  hatreds  of  the  political 
arena,  to  breathe  an  atmosphere  fresh  and  vigorous, 
and  to  bathe  our  souls  in  the  pure  and  pellucid  wa- 
ters of  literature !  In  this  clear  air  we  may  see  ob- 
jects in  their  true  proportions. 

Mr.  Webster's  youth  was  passed  amid  the  rugged 
scenes  of  nature — forests,  mountains,  and  snows. 
Something  of  the  grandeur  of  his  own  nature  may 
have  been  derived  from  this  early  communion  with 
great  external  objects.  He  grew  up  in  a  stern 
school :  labor  was  a  law  of  life — labor  in  the  fields, 
labor  in  the  schools,  labor  every  where.  His  early 


DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER.    459 

poetry  was  the  "Essay  on  Man"  and  the  hymns  of 
Watts. 

It  is  an  affecting  picture  to  see  that  boy,  in  his  fa- 
ther's fields,  sharing  his  daily  toils ;  striving  to  pre- 
pare the  soil  to  receive  the  grain,  or  to  save  the 
products  of  the  farm  in  harvest-time ;  rising  to  be- 
hold the  sun  come  forth  in  the  east,  or  watching  the 
closing  in  of  a  dark  New  England  winter  night,  as  it 
descended  upon  the  hills  which  stood  about  his  hum- 
ble paternal  roof. 

In  a  snow-storm  a  sleigh  was  seen  ascending  a  hill 
in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  in  which  were  seat- 
ed a  man  already  mature,  of  fine,  bold  face,  and  a 
youth  of  generous  countenance. 

The  elder  traveler  addresses  some  words  to  the 
younger  which  seem  to  move  him,  for  he  presently 
rests  his  head  upon  the  shoulder  of  his  companion, 
and  his  eyes  are  filled  with  tears. 

The  travelers  were  Ebenezer  "Webster  and  his  son 
Daniel,  and  the  father  had  just  announced  to  his  son 
his  purpose  to  send  him  to  college.  Daniel,  over- 
come with  emotion  at  the  opening  of  such  a  career, 
and  at  the  thought  of  the  sacrifice  which  his  fa- 
ther is  about  to  make  for  him,  can  not  restrain  his 
tears. 

There  the  ardor  of  a  great  soul  broke  forth,  and 
the  eye  of  the  young  eagle  flashed  as  it  turned  for  the 
first  time  toward  the  sun. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  trace  the  career  of  Mr. 
Webster,  but  our  wish  is  to  present  a  view  of  the 
man  as  he  so  lately  stood  among  us ;  to  analyze  his 
character ;  to  study  the  great  elements  which  enter- 


460    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

ed  into  it ;  and  to  discover  where  the  secret  of  his 
strength  was  hid. 

A  really  great  man  is  the  grandest  object  which 
this  world  ever  exhibits.  The  heavens  in  their  mag- 
nificence— the  ocean  in  its  sublime  immensity — 
mountains  standing  firm  upon  their  granite  founda- 
tions, all  are  less  imposing  than  a  living  man  in  the 
possession  of  his  highest  faculties. 

Demosthenes  urging  the  Athenians  to  march 
against  Philip  interests  us  more  than  all  Greece. 
Hannibal  scaling  the  Alps  with  his  victorious  le- 
gions is  a  sublimer  object  than  the  Alps  themselves. 
Marius  seated  upon  the  ruins  of  Carthage  makes  us 
forget  the  fall  of  an  empire  in  contemplating  the  for- 
tunes of  a  man.  Nelson  upon  the  deck  of  the  Vic- 
tory, with  the  star  glittering  upon  his  breast,  is  a 
grander  sight  than  the  two  hostile  fleets.  Napoleon 
at  Waterloo,  riding  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  at  the 
head  of  the  Imperial  Guard  when  they  were  to  make 
their  last  charge  upon  the  British  lines,  is  an  object 
of  higher  interest  than  all  the  stern  array  of  battle 
beside.  Lord  Chatham  sinking  in  the  House  of 
Lords  is  the  noblest  object  in  the  British  empire; 
and  Washington  crossing  the  Delaware  at  night, 
amid  the  crashing  ice,  fixes  our  attention  in  the  midst 
of  the  dread  magnificence  of  the  winter  scene,  and 
we  look  upon  him  as  we  would  upon  an  avenging  arch- 
angel going  forth  to  smite  the  invading  army.  Our 
country  has  produced  some  great  men.  They  glow 
in  the  heaven  of  the  past  like  stars  in  the  firmament, 
and  in  that  splendid  constellation  we  see  Webster  in 
full-orbed  glory.  In  history,  as  in  the  heavens,  one 
star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER.    461 

It  is  not  always  that  the  majesty  of  the  intellect  is 
symbolized  in  the  external  man,  but  in  the  case  of 
Webster  it  was  so.  His  appearance  was  nothing 
less  than  grand.  In  the  midst  of  his  peers  in  the 
Senate,  he  stood  like  a  tower,  in  shape  and  gesture 
proudly  eminent ;  or  he  sat,  amid  its  august  delibera- 
tions, as  if  upon  his  broad  shoulders  alone  he  could 
bear  the  weight  of  the  government.  His  head  rose 
with  an  ample  swell,  which  reminded  one  of  that 
dome  which  Michael  Angelo  hung  in  the  heavens. 
His  eyes  were  large,  dark,  and  with  that  fathomless 
depth  which  gives  so  fine  an  expression  to  the  face. 
These,  with  his  dark  complexion  and  hair,  presented 
at  all  times  a  spectacle  which  would  fix  the  attention 
if  seen  in  any  assemblage  of  men ;  but  it  was  when 
he  was  roused  by  some  great  theme,  or  fired  by  some 
important  debate,  that  he  rose  into  an  aspect  of 
Olympian  power  and  grandeur.  Then  we  could  com- 
prehend Milton's  description  of  the  style  of  Demos- 
thenes : 

"  He  shook  the  Arsenal, 
And  fulmined  over  Greece." 

A  thunder-cloud  seemed  at  times  to  hang  upon  his 
brow,  but  as  he  advanced  in  his  argument,  something 
like  a  smile,  resembling  a  ray  of  sun-light,  would  pass 
over  his  features. 

No  grander  spectacle  could  be  witnessed  than  that 
which  he  presented  when  his  mighty  intellect  was  in 
full  play,  and  the  great  passions  of  his  nature  glowed 
in  his  countenance.  It  was  like  looking  upon  a  great 
mountain,  in  whose  depths  the  molten  ore,  under 
the  intense  heat  of  internal  fires,  begins  to  flow, 


462    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

and  at  length  pours  out  in  a  broad  stream  of  living 
flame. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  poetry  in  Mr.  Webster's 
nature,  and  it  was  this  that  gave  him  his  pre-emi- 
nence as  a  writer  and  an  orator. 

There  can  be  no  true  eloquence  which  is  not  in 
some  way  allied  to  poetry,  nor  can  there  be  true 
greatness  of  any  kind  which  is  the  work  of  the  head ; 
the  heart  must  originate  it,  or  it  is  no  greatness  at 
all.  Practical  men  must  be,  if  they  would  achieve 
great  exploits  in  this  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century ;  but  the  curse  of  our  times  is  a  utilitarian 
philosophy,  falsely  so  called,  which  would  ignore  the 
heart  within  the  living  man,  make  him  forget  the 
green  fields  of  his  boyhood,  the  sweet  recollections 
of  home,  the  whole  face  of  nature,  and  every  thing 
but  Mammon, 

"  The  least  erected  spirit  that  fell  from  heaven ;" 

for  even  in  heaven  his  looks  and  thoughts 

"  Were  always  downward  bent,  admiring  more 
The  riches  of  heaven's  pavement,  trodden  gold, 
Than  aught  divine  or  holy  else  enjoyed 
In  vision  beatific." 

Mr.  Webster's  heart  was  as  large  as  his  under- 
standing. Even  Theodore  Parker,  the  most  grace- 
less, perhaps,  of  all  living  men,  though  a  man  of  im- 
mense genius ;  a  man  who  talks  of  the  Bible,  and  yet 
denies  its  inspiration ;  who,  in  the  name  of  a  disciple 
of  Christ,  seeks  to  darken  the  divine  halo  which  en- 
circles his  brow;  a  man  who,  aspiring  to  be  a  free 
thinker,  spreads  his  adventurous  sails  to  the  winds, 
and,  losing  sight  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  has 
been  greatly  tossed  by  the  waves,  and  who,  in  thick 


DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS   AND    CHARACTER.    463 

darkness  himself,  seeks  to  extinguish  the  lights  which 
guide  other  men  to  heaven — Theodore  Parker,  whose 
attack  upon  the  character  of  "Webster  since  his  death 
is  without  a  parallel  for  ferocity  in  the  whole  range 
of  letters,  from  their  dawn  till  now — even  he  admits 
that  Mr.  Webster,  uin  his  earlier  life,  was  fond  of 
children,  ^oved  their  prattle  and  their  play.  They, 
too,  were  fond  of  him,  came  to  him  as  dust  of  iron  to 
a  loadstone,  climbed  on  his  back,  or,  when  he  lay 
down,  lay  on  his  limbs  and  also  slept." 

He  says  too,  u  He  was  fond  of  nature,  loving  New 
Hampshire  mountain  scenery.  He  loved  gardening, 
the  purest  of  human  pleasures.  He  was  a  farmer, 
and  took  a  countryman's  delight  in  country  things — 
in  loads  of  hay,  in  trees,  in  turnips,  and  the  noble 
Indian  corn,  in  monstrous  swine.  He  had  a  patri- 
arch's love  of  sheep — choice  breeds  thereof  he  had. 
*  *  *  He  loved  to  give  the  kine  fodder.  It  was 
pleasant  to  hear  his  talk  of  oxen;  and  but  three  days 
before  he  left  the  earth,  too  ill  to  visit  them,  his  cat- 
tle, lowing,  came  to  see  their  sick  lord,  and  as  he 
stood  in  his  door,  his  great  oxen  were  .driven  up,  that 
he  might  smell  their  healthy  breath,  and  look  his  last 
on  those  broad,  generous  faces  that  were  never  false 
to  him."  And  yet  Theodore  Parker  says  of  Mr. 
Webster,  uNo  living  man  has  done  so  much  to  de- 
bauch the  conscience  of  the  nation — to  debauch  the 
press,  the  pulpit,  the  forum,  the  bar!" 

Mr.  Webster's  love  of  nature,  of  animals,  of  birds 
(he  would  not  allow  them  to  be  shot  upon  his 
grounds),  and  of  children,  vindicate  him  from  the 
charge  of  a  want  of  moral  sentiments.  His  heart 


464    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

was  never  parched,  even  amid  the  burning  heats  of 
political  life,  which,  alas!  blast  too  many  kindly 
shoots  of  the  soul. 

He  loved  nature  passionately.  The  brooks,  the 
hills,  the  valleys,  the  snow-clad  mountains,  the  sun 
gilding  the  east  with  purple  light,  or  kindling  a  blaze 
of  splendor  over  all  the  western  sky — all  this  he 
looked  upon  with  a  glance  which  took  in  the  beauty 
and  the  glory  of  the  scene.  Nothing  was  lost  upon 
him ;  no  sound  which  greeted  the  ear  with  music  in 
its  tones,  no  touch  of  nature  upon  the  heavens  or  the 
earth  which  the  eye  could  rest  upon,  was  unheeded 
by  him.  He  saw  every  thing  and  he  heard  every 
thing  as  a  poet  sees  and  hears  the  aspects  and  voices 
of  nature.  All  appealed  to  the  great  deep  of  his 
moral  nature,  as  the  stars  of  heaven  are  mirrored  in 
the  bosom  of  the  ocean. 

Lord  Byron,  after  a  night's  debauch  in  Venice, 
stood,  in  the  tranquil  morning,  before  the  stars  had 
faded  out  of  the  sky,  and  he  looked  up  to  them.  He 
felt  their  reproving  glance.  "These  stars,'1  he  ex- 
claimed, uwhat  nothings  they  make  us  appear!" 

"Wr.  Webster,  walking  one  night  with  a  friend, 
looked  up  to  the  star-lit  heavens,  and  repeated  the 
eighth  Psalm:  UO  Lord  our  Lord,"  &c.  He  com- 
prehended that,  while  the  Lord  had  •  set  his  glory 
above  the  heavens,  he  had  made  man  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  and  had  crowned  him  with  glory  and 
honor. 

His  was  not  a  soul  to  sink  overpowered  by  any 
scene  of  nature,  however  magnificent  or  sublime;  it 
rose  and  kindled  with  the  glories  which  surrounded 


DANIEL   WEBSTER — HIS    GENIUS   AND   CHARACTER.    465 

it ;  and  while  he  felt  awed  beneath  the  display  of 
God's  power  and  glory  in  the  outspread  heavens,  he 
at  the  same  time  felt  his  soul  swell  with  adoring 
gratitude  to  Him  because  He  did  condescend  to  visit 
man. 

How  he  loved  the  morning  we  may  learn  from  his 
Richmond  letter.  He  explains  what  is  meant  by  the 
"  wings  of  the  morning :"  u  Rays  of  light  are  wings;" 
and  he  says,  "  I  never  thought  that  Adam  had  much 
the  advantage  of  us  from  having  seen  the  world  while 
it  was  new.  The  manifestations  of  the  power  of  God, 
like  his  mercies,  are  new  every  morning  and  fresh 
every  moment.  I  know  the  morning ;  I  am  ac- 
quainted with  it,  and  I  love  it.  I  love  it,  fresh  and 
sweet  as  it  is — a  daily  new  creation,  breaking  forth, 
and  calling  all  that  have  life,  and  breath,  and  being 
to  new  adoration,  new  enjoyments,  and  new  grati- 
tude." 

His  letters  to  John  Taylor,  who  was  managing 
his  farm,  are  full  of  poetry.  Writing  in  the  senate- 
chamber,  he  translates  Virgil's  description  of  the 
opening  of  spring,  and  then  asks  his  honest  rural 
friend,  "John  Taylor,  when  you  read  these  lines,  do 
you  not  see  the  snow  melting  from  the  slopes  of  your 
French  Brook  pasture,  and  the  new  grass  starting  and 
growing  in  the  trickling  waters,  all  green,  bright,  and 
beautiful?  and  do  you  not  see  your  Durham  oxen 
smoking  from  heat  and  perspiration,  as  they  draw 
along  your  great  breaking-up  plow,  cutting  and  turn- 
ing over  the  tough  sward  in  your  meadow  in  the 
great  field?" 

This  love  of  nature,  this  blending  of  the  soul  with 

GG 


466    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

the  glories  and  the  harmonies  of  the  universe,  vindi- 
cates Mr.  Webster  from  the  monstrous  accusations 
brought  against  him.  The  soul  which  can  find  its 
enjoyments  in  green  fields,  or  under  the  heavens  beam- 
ing with  stars,  or  beside  the  ocean,  the  image  of  eter- 
nity, or  witnessing  the  sports  of  children,  or  in  listen- 
ing to  the  voices  of  nature,  is  a  soul  in  whose  depths 
the  gentle  charities  of  life  may  be  found  nestling,  and 
the  pure  gems  of  truth  are  hidden.  Wordsworth 
himself  did  not  love  rural  life,  or  the  country  and  its 
pastoral  scenes,  more  than  Webster. 

Mr.  Webster's  nature  was  full  of  poetry,  and  it  was 
this  that  gave  him  his  greatness,  his  transcendent 
greatness  as  an  ORATOR. 

His  intellectual  power  was  very  great.  He  some- 
times smote  his  adversaries  in  debate  with  a  vast 
rock,  seized  in  his  monstrous  grasp,  and  hurled  with 
a  force  equal  to  that  with  which  Ulysses  sent  the. 
fragment  flying  through  the  air  which  he  threw  in 
the  sports  in  which  he  took  part  at  the  court  of  Al- 
cinous,  upon  his  return  from  Troy : 

"Then,  striding  forward  with  a  furious  bound, 
He  wrenched  a  rocky  fragment  from  the  ground, 
By  far  more  ponderous,  and  more  huge  by  far, 
Than  what  Phaeacia's  sons  discharged  in  air ; 
Fierce  from  his  arm  th'  enormous  load  he  flings  ; 
Sonorous  through  the  shaded  air  it  sings  ; 
Couched  to  the  earth,  tempestuous  as  it  flies, 
The  crowd  gaze  upward  while  it  cleaves  the  skies : 
Beyond  all  marks,  with  many  a  giddy  round, 
Down-rushing,  it  upturns  a  hill  of  ground." 

He  pressed  into  his  service  all  the  elements  about 
him,  and  he  treasured  up  beautiful  and  great  thoughts, 
that  he  might  use  them  when  the  occasion  came. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER — HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER.    467 

Standing  in  Quebec,  and  witnessing  a  morning 
parade  of  British  troops,  lie  caught  an  idea  of  the 
wide-spread  power  of  England,  which  he  uttered  years 
after  in  one  of  his  great  speeches. 

He  was  speaking  of  the  principle  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  he  says  of  our  fathers,  "On  this  question 
of  principle,  while  actual  suffering  was  yet  afar  off, 
they  raised  their  flag  against  a  power,  to  which,  for 
purposes  of  foreign  conquest  and  subjugation,  Home, 
in  the  height  of  her  glory,  is  not  to  be  compared ;  a 
power  which  has  dotted  over  the  surface  of  the  whole 
globe  with  her  possessions  and  military  posts  ;  whose 
morning  drum-beat,  following  the  sun,  and  keeping 
company  with  the  hours,  circles  the  earth  daily  with 
one  continuous  and  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial 
airs  of  England." 

Nothing  in  the  language  which  we  speak  is  finer 
than  the  poetical  thought  which  he  introduces  into 
his  Bunker  Hill  speech  when  the  great  monument 
was  inaugurated: 

uLet  it  rise — let  it  rise  till  it  meet  the  sun  in  his 
coming.  Let  the  earliest  light  of  the  morning  gild 
it,  and  parting  day  linger  and  play  on  its  summit." 

Another  great  quality  in  Mr.  Webster's  oratory 
was  his  acquaintance  with  classical  literature,  and 
this,  we  think,  ought  to  be  noticed  next  to  that  poet- 
ical element  in  his  nature  to  which  we  have  just  re- 
ferred. 

He  stands  without  a  rival  among  American  states- 
men in  that  style  of  oratory,  excepting  only  John 
Randolph,  whose  discursive  and  eccentric  orations 
can  hardly  be  classed  with  regular  parliamentary 


468    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

speeches,  and  Mr.  Pinkney,  of  Maryland,  whose  fame 
rests  chiefly  upon  his  arguments  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  but  whose  beautiful 
speech  in  the  case  of  the  Nereid  entitles  him  to  a 
high  rank  in  that  school.  In  this  respect  the  Brit- 
ish statesmen  far  excel  us.  "We  read  their  speeches 
with  delight ;  they  are  in  themselves  classics. 

Two  most  felicitous  quotations  from  the  Iliad,  which 
Mr.  "Webster  made  on  two  occasions  of  great  interest 
to  the  country,  occur  to  me. 

He  closes  his  speech,  made  on  the  7th  of  March, 
1850,  with  a  description  of  the  completeness  given  to 
our  extended  territorial  possessions  by  the  acquisition 
'of  California.  The  two  great  oceans  of  the  world 
then  washed  our  borders.  "We  realize,"  he  said, 
u  on  a  mighty  scale,  the  beautiful  description  of  the 
'ornamental  border  of  the  buckler  of  Achilles : 

" '  Now,  the  broad  shield  complete,  the  artist  crowned 
With  his  last  hand,  and  poured  the  ocean  round ; 
In  living  silver  seemed  the  waves  to  roll, 
And  beat  the  buckler's  verge,  and  bound  the  whole.' " 

The  other  classical  quotation  to  which  we  allude 
was  made  in  a  speech  delivered  in  the  Senate,  when 
Mr.  Webster,  after  the  death  of  General  Taylor,  re- 
sumed the  discussion  of  the  Compromise  measures, 
which  had  been  interrupted  by  that  event.  He  paid 
a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  hero- President  before  enter- 
ing upon  his  argument,  and  closed  it  with  the  lines 
from  Homer, 

"  Such  honors  Ilium  to  her  hero  paid, 
And  peaceful  slept  the  mighty  Hector's  shade." 

We  can  not,  at  this  time,  undertake  to  show  the 


DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS   AND   CHARACTER.    469 

advantages  of  classical  learning,  but  we  venture  to 
say  that  it  fertilizes  the  mind  to  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree, and  never  fails  to  purify  and  elevate  the  tastes. 

There  was  a  comprehensiveness  in  Mr.  Webster's 
range  of  thoughts  which  never  failed  to  appear  in  all 
that  he  wrote  or  spoke ;  he  never  took  a  small  view 
of  a  subject.  This  gave  to  his  style  a  massiveness 
which  distinguished  it  from  that  of  any  of  his  con- 
temporaries. Indeed,  it  was  Miltonic :  what  the  au- 
thor of  Paradise  Lost  was  among  poets,  Mr.  "Webster 
was  among  the  writers  and  the  orators  of  our  times. 

His  logical  power  was  great ;  and  he  could  furnish 
an  argument  ponderous  as  a  cable  which  would  hold 
a  ship  of  war  steady  to  its  moorings  in  a  tempest, 
while  his  poetical  nature,  his  refined  taste,  and  his  ac- 
quaintance with  general  literature  imparted  an  ornate 
beauty  to  his  style,  and  a  magnificence,  rising  some- 
times into  grandeur,  which  surpassed  the  noblest  efforts 
of  Cicero  in  ancient,  or  of  Burke  in  modern  times. 

There  was  a  breadth  of  view  in  his  examination 
of  a  question  which  reminded  one  who  listened  to 
him  of  the  far-sweeping  horizon  which  stretches 
around  when  we  stand  upon  a  mountain  peak. 

All  these  elements,  however,  could  not  have  given 
him  that  ascendency  in  the  Senate  which  he  held  as 
an  orator,  if  he  had  not  possessed  yet  another  qual- 
ity— PATRIOTISM.  He  loved  his  country  with  a  fer- 
vor that  has  never  been  surpassed.  Impressive  as 
he  always  was — great  as  he  often  was  at  the  bar,  in 
the  senate-chamber,  and  before  the  people — he  rose 
to  sublimity  when  he  spoke  of  the  power  and  glory 
of  the  republic,  or  depicted  its  future  grandeur.  An 


470    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

indescribable  majesty  seemed  to  invest  his  person  on 
such  occasions,  and  he  stood  like  an  ancient  demi- 
god swaying  the  destinies  of  a  nation.  He  loved 
New  England;  he  loved  his  paternal  home  in  the 
New  Hampshire  hills,  half  hid  amid  the  snow-drifts 
of  winter;  he  loved  Massachusetts,  which  always 
cheered  and  sustained  him ;  but  his  love  was  not 
confined  to  New  England:  it  was  limited  only  by 
the  remotest  verge  of  the  domain  over  which  the 
eagles  of  his  country  flew.  He  was  not  a  Massachu- 
setts man,  nor  a  New  England  man,  nor  a  Northern 
man  ;  his  great  soul  swept  beyond  these  narrow  lim- 
its ;  and  while  New  Hampshire  might  claim  him  be- 
cause she  gave  him  birth,  and  Massachusetts  might 
claim  him  as  her  great  senator,  and  the  North  might 
claim  him  as  the  noblest  and  proudest  advocate  of 
her  policy,  shedding  the  splendor  of  his  imperial  in- 
tellect over  all  her  institutions,  no  section  could  ap- 
propriate him,  for  he  was  himself  nothing  less  than 
an  American. 

It  was  this  that  imparted  the  highest  glory  to  his 
great  efforts.  In  ordinary  times  he  was  a  senator 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  ready  to  vindicate 
her  policy  and  defend  her  interests,  with  enlarged  na- 
tional views,  it  is  true,  all  the  while ;  but  when  a  great 
crisis  came,  which  involved  the  stability  of  the  gov- 
ernment, or  threatened  the  glory  of  the  republic,  his 
soul  expanded  under  the  intense  fires  of  patriotism, 
and  his  eye,  like  that  of  the  eagle  in  the  blaze  of 
noonday  splendor,  swept  the  remotest  verge  of  the 
country,  and  he  forgot  all  lesser  distinctions  in  the 
proud  consciousness  that  he  was  an  American  sen- 
ator. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER — HIS    GENIUS   AND   CHARACTER.    471 

The  greatest  speech  which  he  ever  uttered  was 
made  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hayne.  That  speech,  whether 
we  regard  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  which  it  re- 
viewed, the  danger  which  impended  over  the  institu- 
tions of  the  country,  the  effect  produced  by  its  deliv- 
ery, or  the  amazing  grandeur  of  the  effort  itself,  was 
as  important  and  as  impressive  as  a  battle. 

All  the  great  elements  which  entered  into  the  com- 
position of  Mr.  Webster's  character  were  displayed 
in  it.  The  figure  with  which  it  opens,  the  allusion 
to  the  mariner,  who  has  for  days  lost  sight  of  the 
heavens,  availing  himself  of  the  first  pause  in  the 
storm  to  take  his  latitude ;  his  tribute  to  Massachu- 
setts ;  his  passionate  declaration  of  his  purpose  to 
stand  by  American  liberty,  or  to  fall  with  it  amid 
the  proudest  monuments  of  her  glory ;  his  great  ar- 
gument in  defense  of  the  integrity  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment ;  and  his  triumphant  and  sublime  perora- 
tion, closing  with  the  memorable  words,  "  LIBERTY 
AND  UNION,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable" — 
all  were  characteristic  of  the  orator,  who  was  the  liv- 
ing impersonation  of  the  idea  which  has  come  down 
to  us  from  ancient  Greece  of  transcendent  eloquence 
like  that  of  Demosthenes  when  he  delivered  the  Ora- 
tion for  the  Crown. 

Over  the  senate-chamber  the  American  flag  was 
flying,  and  through  the  glass  dome  its  folds  might  be 
seen  floating  in  the  breeze,  as  Mr.  Webster  uttered 
that  passage  which  described  it  bearing  those  words 
emblazoned  upon  it  in  characters  of  living  light ;  and 
while  the  effect  upon  the  audience  which  thronged 
every  spot  within  the  reach  of  his  voice  was  over- 


472    DANIEL    WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS    AND    CHARACTER. 

whelming,  the  words  still  ring  in  our  ears,  and  the 
scene  will  be  preserved  by  History  and  Painting  as 
one  of  the  most  memorable  and  impressive  which  has 
occurred  in  the  fortunes  of  the  republic. 

But  we  can  not  linger  this  evening  over  scenes 
which  attract  us.  We  must  content  ourselves  with 
a  hurried  glance  at  the  great  man  whose  form  so 
lately  towered  among  us  so  stately  and  majestic, 
and  of  whose  sudden  prostration  we  think,  as  Thack- 
eray says  of  Lingo,  with  emotions  such  as  we  expe- 
rience when  we  think  of  the  fall  of  an  empire. 

As  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Webster's  fame  was  as  high  as 
that  which  he  had  acquired  as  a  statesman.  From 
the  day  when  he  delivered  his  argument  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Dart- 
mouth College  case,  he  took  rank  with  the  foremost 
men  of  the  profession ;  and  amid  all  the  engrossing 
demands  upon  his  time  and  his  intellect  which  his 
political  duties  made,  he  not  only  did  not  recede  as  a 
lawyer,  but  his  reputation  steadily  grew  to  the  last. 
His  clear,  strong,  comprehensive  sense  enabled  him 
to  state  a  case  in  a  way  that  made  it  almost  unnec- 
essary to  argue  it  afterward. 

We  should  be  unjust  to  Mr.  Webster,  and  unjust 
to  others,  and  unjust  to  that  philosophy  which  ought 
always  to  shine  through  such  an  analysis  as  we  have 
attempted,  if  we  did  not  add  that  Mr.  Webster's  most 
intimate  friends  attributed  his  great  success  in  life  as 
an  intellectual  man  to  labor.  He  was  laborious  to 
an  amazing  degree,  and  he  tasked  his  powers  to  their 
utmost  range.  Habitually  an  early  riser,  his  work 
for  the  day  was  well  advanced  before  other  men  had 


DANIEL   WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS   AND    CHARACTER.    473 

risen  from  sleep.  Well  might  he  say,  "I  know  the 
morning,  and  I  love  it." 

As  a  statesman  he  performed  signal  services.  His 
papers  written  when  Secretary  of  State  will  forever 
adorn  our  annals.  His  letter  to  Lord  Ashburton  on 
the  right  of  search,  in  which  he  declares  that  an 
American  sailor  must  find  his  protection  in  the  flag 
that  floats  over  him ;  his  reply  to  the  Austrian  paper 
presented  by  Mr.  Hulseman,  in  which  he  vindicates 
the  principle  of  popular  rights  against  the  imperious 
and  despotic  doctrines  of  a  nation  whose  territory,  in 
comparison  with  our  own,  is  but  little  more  than  a 
patch  on  the  earth's  surface — a  letter  which  spread 
through  Europe,  rousing  all  the  popular  enthusiasm, 
so  that  the  office  of  the  American  consul  at  Athens 
was  thronged  with  visitors  eager  to  see  that  proud 
defense  of  freedom — these  and  others  will  rank  with 
the  state  papers  of  any  country  or  of  any  times. 
His  politics  must  not  now  be  discussed ;  but  we  may 
be  allowed  to  say  that  it  is  the  crowning  glory  of  his 
career  that  the  last  great  utterance  which  he  ever 
made — his  speech  of  the  7th  of  March,  1850 — was  an 
utterance  of  great  and  patriotic  sentiments,  sounding 
out  through  the  whole  land ;  appealing  to  Massachu- 
setts to  stand  by  the  Constitution ;  assuring  the  South 
of  his  purpose  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  na- 
tional compact ;  calling  upon  the  country,  as  a  con- 
script father  might  have  appealed  to  Rome,  to  be 
true  to  herself — an  utterance  which  will  sound  out 
to  future  ages. 

It  was  a  heroic  speech,  and  entitled  him  to  the 
name  which  his  friends  had  long  ago  given  him  of 
"  Defender  of  the  Constitution." 


474    DANIEL    WEBSTER — HIS    GENIUS   AND   CHARACTER. 

Such  a  man  was 

"Not  for  an  age, 
But  for  all  time." 

Turning  away  from  the  Capitol,  quitting  his  de- 
partment of  state  with  a  heart  yearning  for  the 
quiet  of  home,  the  fresh  pure  air  of  the  sea-shore  to 
fan  his  fevered  cheek,  and  the  endearments  of  kin- 
dred to  soothe  his  declining  days,  the  great  statesman 
went  to  Marshfield :  he  went  there  to  die. 

These  last  days  were  as  full  of  solemn  grandeur  as 
the  light  streaming  through  the  stained-glass  win- 
dows of  a  cathedral.  The  statesman  is  lost  sight  of; 
we  see  only  the  man.  There  are  words  uttered  which 
disclose  the  deep  religious  sentiment  that  was  an  ele- 
ment in  his  nature  ;  words  of  trust  in  God ;  broken 
utterances  as  to  His  rod  and  His  staff  supporting  the 
steps  about  to  enter  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death ;  words  that  tell  how  much  of  poetry  there  was 
in  his  heart ;  broken  lines  of  Gray's  Elegy  in  a  Coun- 
try Church-yard, 

"  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day  ;" 

and  a  solemn,  final  leave-taking  of  the  loved  ones  of 
his  household. 

Then  the  light  faded  out  of  those  large,  lustrous 
eyes,  and  Webster  was  dead. 

Wherever  the  tidings  spread,  the  flag  of  the  coun- 
try drooped;  men  were  startled  in  high  places  and 
in  humble  ones ;  some  wept ;  and  all  who  could 
reach  Marshfield  went  to  look  upon  the  dead  majesty 
of  the  nation,  as  it  lay  in  the  deep,  tranquil  sleep  of 
death,  under  the  spreading  boughs  of  an  immense  tree, 
which  had  often  sheltered  its  lord  when  living. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER HIS    GENIUS   AND    CHARACTER.    475 

What  a  career  closed  there !  a  career  far  the  most 
brilliant  which  has  been  seen  in  this  country. 

We  heard  of  his  death  as  we  should  have  received 
the  intelligence  of  a  national  calamity. 

The  shock  was  like  that  we  should  experience  if 
we  stood  by  and  witnessed  the  fall  of  a  castle,  from 
whose  battlements  banners  had  been  flung  out,  and 
through  whose  embrasures  artillery  had  thundered, 
and  at  whose  base  the  proudest  armaments  had  per- 
ished. 

His  last  days  exhibited  all  the  serene  grandeur  of 
his  nature.  His  soul,  turning  away  from  the  world 
and  its  objects,  fixed  its  gaze  upon  the  illimitable  fu- 
ture, which  spread  before  it  like  a  shoreless  ocean, 
upon  whose  tranquil  waters  the  Star  of  Bethlehem 
threw  its  tremulous  and  unearthly  lustre. 

His  hand  recorded  his  clear  and  emphatic  confes- 
sion of  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and  in  the  divine  in- 
spiration of  the  Gospel. 

Those  last  days,  what  a  glory  streams  through 
them — glory  not  without  its  shadows  ! 

The  last  hours  of  the  life  of  the  dying  statesman 
resembled  a  gorgeous  sunset ;  not  the  going  down  of 
a  tropical  sun  in  unclouded  splendor,  but  the  sun 
sinking  behind  the  Alps,  kindling  upon  every  mount- 
ain peak  a  blaze  of  glory,  and  pouring  a  flood  of 
golden  light  upon  the  clouds  which  hung  their  sol- 
emn drapery  about  his  dying  couch. 


WOMAN— HER  TRUE  SPHERE. 

AN  ADDRESS   DELIVERED  AT  THE    COMMENCEMENT   OF  LA   GRANGE  FE- 
MALE COLLEGE,  LA  GRANGE,  GEORGIA,  JULY  12th,  1854. 

IN  all  the  visible  universe,  crowded  as  it  is  with  an 
endless  variety  of  objects,  there  reigns  every  where 
an  unbroken  harmony.  An  unseen  law  stretches 
its  resistless  dominion  throughout  its  boundless  ex- 
tent, and  every  thing  obeys  it — the  smallest  and  the 
greatest;  the  flower  which,  with  fragile  stem,  lifts 
its  head  to  greet  the  light,  and  the  constellations 
which  move  in  their  brilliant  and  illimitable  courses 
through  the  heavens. 

u  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  and  another  glory 
of  the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars,  for  one 
star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory." 

The  sun  drives  his-  chariot  of  flame  up  the  steep 
of  heaven  and  down  its  western  slope ;  the  moon 
floats  through  the  serene  sky  in  tranquil  majesty, 
and  the  splendid  constellations  rule  the  night;  yet 
every  where,  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  pole, 
there  is  no  sound  of  discord,  but  all  things  display 
a  blended  power  and  wisdom,  which  we  see  with 
wonder  and  adoration,  and,  adding  our  voices  to 
swell  the  mighty  anthem  which  Nature  utters,  in 
tones  which  reach  the  throne  of  God,  we  exclaim, 
"All  thy  works  praise  Thee." 

So,  too,  in  the  elements  which  seem  to  strive  with 
each  other — they  are  made  to  contribute  to  the  hap- 


WOMAN HER    TRUE    SPHERE.  477 

piness  of  man  and  the  beauty  of  the  universe.  The 
ocean,  in  its  sublimity,  dashes  against  its  barriers, 
and  threatens  to  submerge  the  world ;  but  it  has  its 
appointed  bounds  that  it  can  not  pass ;  its  proud 
waves  are  stayed  by  a  silent,  but  all-pervading  and 
resistless  power;  and  the  winds,  which  swell  into 
tempests,  would  spread  desolation  over  the  earth  if 
they  were  not  restrained  by  that  Almighty  hand  which 
guides  and  sustains  all  things. 

All  the  works  of  God,  so  far  as  we  can  see  them, 
display  order  and  adaptation.  If  we  could  stand 
with  Uriel  in  the  sun,  and  look  out  upon  the  uni- 
verse, we  should  see  its  order  and  its  beauty,  and  the 
ear  would  catch  the  notes  of  the  great  hymn  of  praise 
which,  from  all  the  spheres,  floats  upward  to  the  Cre- 
ator. 

Even  in  this  world  of  ours  all  sights  and  all  sounds 
are  made  to  blend  in  harmony.  Standing  upon  the 
mountains  of  Switzerland,  the  traveler  sees  spread 
out  before  him  a  wide  landscape  of  wonderful  beau- 
ty: mountain  peaks  against  the  sky,  the  luminous 
clouds,  the  wild  torrents,  the  picturesque  cottages, 
the  awful  frown  of  Morit  Blanc,  covered  with  ever- 
lasting snow,  and  all  the  varied  objects  which  come 
within  the  range  of  vision,  are  blended  into  one  pic- 
ture ;  while  the  sounds  which  greet  the  ear — the  song 
of  the  Swiss  girl,  the  wild  call  of  the  peasant  as  he 
shouts  to  his  flocks,  or  sings  that  song  so  dear  to  ev- 
ery exile  from  his  country,  no  matter  where  he  hears 
it,  "Ranz  des  vaches" — all  are  blended  in  sweetness, 
and  captivate  the  soul. 

The  very  soul  of  the  universe  is  harmony. 


478  WOMAN HER   TRUE   SPHERE. 

Throughout  the  whole  circle  of  created  beings 
there  is  an  endless  diversity,  and  yet  an  unbroken 
order.  If  we  ascend  to  the  shining  ranks  of  angelic 
hosts,  we  find  that  the  same  great  law  prevails. 
There  are  angels  that  excel  in  strength,  and  there  is 
a  gradation  visible  in  the  glorious  forms  which  are 
marshaled,  tier  above  tier,  about  the  everlasting 
throne,  from  Michael,  "  of  celestial  armies  prince,"  and 
Gabriel,  "in  military  prowess  next,  "and  Uriel,  who, 
seated  in  the  sun,  sees  the  whole  circle  of  created 
worlds,  down  to  the  humblest  worshiper  in  the  whole 
court  of  Heaven ;  for 

"  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law,  and  this  confess'd, 
Some  are,  and  must  be,  greater  than  the  rest." 

It  is  the  beautiful  assurance  of  revelation  that  God 
created  man  in  his  own  image.  He  invested  him 
with  dominion  over  all  terrestrial  things.  Having 
made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  he  crowned 
him  with  glory  and  honor. 

Not  silently  and  darkly  did  man  rise  up  into  be- 
ing, like  the  beasts,  deriving  their  life  from  the  earth, 
but  he  was  created  directly  by  the  power  of  God,  in 
the  midst  of  adoring  hosts  of  attendant  angels,  who 
filled  the  whole  circle  of  the  heavens,  to  witness  the 
introduction  into  the  ranks  of  intelligent  and  immor- 
tal beings  of  MAN. 

Peerless  he  stood  and  surveyed  the  young  world, 
glowing  in  the  freshness  and  verdure  of  the  morning 
of  creation.  His  dominion  embraced  the  round 
world,  and  he  was  without  a  rival  in  his  extended 
empire. 

Then,  because  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone, 


WOMAN HER   TRUE   SPHERE.  479 

woman  was  created,  the  elements  of  her  being  derived 
from  him,  and  she  was  given  to  him  as  a  compan- 
ion. Up  to  that  moment  even  Paradise  was  a  soli- 
tude. 

"  In  vain  the  viewless  seraph,  lingering  there 
At  starry  midnight,  charm'd  the  silent  air ; 
In  vain  the  wild  bird  carol'd  on  the  steep, 
To  hail  the  sun  slow  wheeling  from  the  deep ; 
In  vain,  to  soothe  the  solitary  shade, 
Aerial  notes  in  mingling  measure  played — 
The  summer  wind,  that  shook  the  spangled  tree ; 
The  whispering  wave,  the  murmur  of  the  bee — 
Still  slowly  passed  the  melancholy  day, 
And  still  the  stranger  wist  not  where  to  stray : 
The  world  was  sad !  the  garden  was  a  wild ! 
And  man,  the  hermit,  sighed  till  woman  smiled." 

Yet,  although  the  world  was  sad,  and  even  Para- 
dise a  wild  until  woman  appeared  in  its  green  depths 
and  scented  bowers,  still,  upon  her  coming,  the  same 
great  law  which  the  universe  had  hitherto  displayed 
— the  law  of  order  and  of  harmony — was  recognized 
in  the  relations  which  the  two  newly-created  beings 
bore  to  each  other.  The  whole  structure  of  man — 
the  qualities  of  his  body  and  of  his  mind — differed 
from  those  displayed  by  woman. 

Nor  was  the  dominion  of  man  disputed  by  his  new 
companion  and  friend ;  for  while  he  bore  rule  still  in 
the  midst  of  the  world  which  lay  subject  to  him,  she 
acknowledged  his  authority,  looked  up  to  him  for 
protection,  and  gently  rested  her  head,  clustering 
with  curls,  upon  his  broad,  firm  breast. 

Milton's  description  of  Adam  and  Eve,  as  they 
walked  in  Paradise,  is  exquisitely  beautiful,  and  it 
discloses  the  just  and  true  relation  which  should,  in 
all  time,  exist  between  two  beings  whom  God  has 


480  WOMAN — HER   TRUE   SPHERE. 

formed  to  be  companions  through  this  earthly  pil- 
grimage. 

"  Two  of  far  nobler  shape,  erect  and  tall, 
Godlike  erect,  with  native  honor  clad 
In  naked  majesty,  seem'd  lords  of  all, 
And  worthy  seem'd  ;  for  in  their  looks  divine 
The  image  of  their  glorious  Maker  shone— r 
Truth,  wisdom,  sanctitude  severe  and  pure 
(Severe,  but  in  true  filial  wisdom  placed) — 
Whence  true  authority  in  men ;  though  both 
Not  equal,  as  their  sex  not  equal  seem'd  : 
For  contemplation  he  and  valor  form'd ; 
For  softness  she,  and  sweet  attractive  grace ; 
He  for  God  only,  she  for  God  in  him : 
His  fair,  large  front,  and  eye  sublime,  declared 
Absolute  rule  ;  and  hyacinthine  locks 
Round  from  his  parted  forelock  manly  hung 
Clustering,  but  not  beneath  his  shoulders  broad ; 
She,  as  a  veil,  down  to  the  slender  waist, 
Her  unadorned  golden  tresses  wore 
Dishevel'd,  but  in  wanton  ringlets  waved 
As  the  vine  curls  her  tendrils  ;  which  implied 
Subjection,  but  required  with  gentle  sway, 
.     And  by  her  yielded,  by  him  best  received ; 
Yielded  with  coy  submission,  modest  pride, 
And  sweet,  reluctant,  amorous  delay." 

The  sphere  of  man  is  widely  different  from  that  of 
woman,  and  there  can  be  no  rivalry  between  two  be- 
ings formed  with  faculties  so  diverse  and  for  objects 
so  dissimilar. 

There  have  been  instances  in  the  history  of  our 
race  of  men  who  have  lost  all  manliness,  and  resign- 
ed themselves  to  effeminate  pursuits  —  men  who, 
shrinking  from  the  stern  duties  of  life,  have  regarded 
its  great  tasks  with  as  much  aversion  .as  the  king's 
messenger,  sent  to  demand  Hotspur's  prisoners,  did 
the  rough  and  perilous  scenes  of  the  battle-field — 
men  who,  forgetting  the  true  dignity  of  manhood, 


WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE.  481 

take  no  part  in  the  mighty  achievements  of  the  brave 
world  about  us,  but 

"  They  caper  nimbly  in  a  lady's  chamber 
To  the  lascivious  pleasing  of  a  lute." 

And  there  have  been  women  who  have  lost  all  the 
gentle  and  attractive  grace  of  their  sex,  and,  pressing 
into  the  empire  which  belongs  exclusively  to  man, 
have  disputed  the  dominion  of  the  world  with  him. 
It  is  but  rarely  that  such  instances  fail  to  disgust  us. 
We  expect  to  see  every  man  manly,  and  every  wom- 
an womanly. 

Paris,  when  compared  with  Hector,  sinks  into  con- 
tempt— flying  from  the  battle-field  to  the  arms  of 
Helen,  he  rests  ingloriously,  while  the  helmet  of  Hec- 
tor blazes  in  the  serried  ranks  of  war,  and  his  dread 
spear  drives  back  the  invading  Greeks — while  Joan 
of  Arc,  with  her  splendid  qualities  and  heroic  virtue, 
leading  the  marshaled  hosts  of  France  from  victory  to 
victory,  until  she  planted  the  drooping  lilies  of  her 
country  over  fortresses  and  cities  wrested  from  the 
English  troops,  is  less  lovely  in  our  eyes  than  the 
gentle  maiden  who  follows  in  the  red  path  of  battle 
only  to  stanch  the  wound  of  the  dying  soldier,  and 
to  hold  the  cup  of  water  to  his  parched  lips. 

Man  is  formed  for  great  exploits.  It  is  his  task 
to  scale  the  mountain  heights,  to  traverse  continents, 
to  explore  the  wide  seas,  to  build  cities,  to  fell  for- 
ests, to  contend  with  wild  beasts,  and  redeem  the 
earth  from  their  incursions ;  to  sow  the  seed  and  gath- 
er harvests ;  to  stand  in  battle,  to  lead  armies ;  to 
preach  the  everlasting  Gospel,  and  to  guide  all  pub- 
lic affairs.  These  tasks  become  a  man. 

HH 


482  WOMAN — HER   TRUE   SPHERE. 

But  woman's  sphere  is  widely  different.  It  is  hers 
to  shed  around  home  those  dear  delights  which  she 
alone  can  impart  to  it ;  to  cheer  hours  which,  with- 
out her  presence,  would  be  lonely  or  sad ;  to  encour- 
age all  the  virtues ;  to  walk  by  the  side  of  man,  as  an 
angel  in  the  wilderness,  guiding  him  to  celestial 
realms ;  and  to  illustrate  all  the  charities  of  life  by 
her  sweet  example. 

The  harmony  which  we  see  every  where  in  the  uni- 
verse is  still  undisturbed  by  the  delightful  inter- 
course between  two  beings  so  closely  allied,  and  yet 
so  unlike. 

We  do  not  expect  to  find  in  woman  the  sublime 
qualities  which  belong  to  man — those  qualities  which 
entitle  him  to  absolute  rule ;  but  her  loveliness  is 
none  the  less  for  the  want  of  them.  In  that  splen- 
did picture  which  is  so  vividly  sketched  in  Ivanhoe, 
when  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  attacks  the  castle  of 
Front  de  Bceuf,  our  admiration  is  divided  between 
the  Black  Knight,  who  thunders  with  his  ponderous 
battle-axe  against  the  gates,  heedless  of  the  missiles 
showered  upon  his  head  from  the  defenders  on  the 
walls,  and  the  gentle  Hebecca,  who,  looking  through 
the  lattice  with  blenched  cheek,  describes  the  waver- 
ing fortunes  of  the  battle  to  the  wounded  Ivanhoe, 
who  is  unable  to  rise  from  his  couch. 

In  the  sacred  history  which  records  the  early  events 
of  the  world,  we  read  with  admiration  the  account 
that  is  given  of  the  heroic  courage  of  Moses.  The 
great  leader  of  the  hosts  of  Israel,  when  the  cry  rose 
in  all  the  ranks  that  the  Egyptians  were  pursuing, 
exclaimed,  in  tones  that  were  heard  above  the  confu- 


WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE.  483 

sion  and  noise  of  the  panic-stricken  people — above 
the  rush  of  the  impetuous  army  marching  down  upon 
them — above  the  roar  of  the  sea  upon  whose  margin 
they  stood,  "  STAND  STILL  AND  SEE  THE  SALVATION  OF 
GOD!"  It  was  Moses  who,  after  conducting  the 
tribes  through  the  waters  which  stood  up  on  either 
side  as  a  wall,  stretched  forth  that  potent  rod  whose 
awful  sweep  brought  back  the  wild  and  surging  bil- 
lows over  the  army  of  Pharaoh  ;  but  it  was  Miriam 
who  took  a  timbrel  in  her  hand,  and  invited  the  beau- 
tiful women  of  Israel  to  follow  her  with  timbrels 
and  dances ;  and  all  joined  in  that  grand  song  of 
triumph  which  swelled  in  tones  of  majestic  sweet- 
ness over  the  rolling  sea,  "Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for 
He  hath  triumphed  gloriously ;  the  horse  and  his  rider 
hath  He  thrown  into  the  sea." 

It  was  David  whose  prowess  slew  the  haughty 
champion  who  defied  the  armies  of  Israel,  but  it  was 
the  women  of  Israel  who  came  out  from  all  the  cities, 
singing  and  dancing,  to  meet  him,  with  tabrets,  with 
joy,  and  with  instruments  of  music. 
'  It  is  becoming  in  man  to  achieve  victories,  it  is 
becoming  in  woman  to  celebrate  them. 

In  the  magnificent  description  of  the  royal  Psalm- 
ist, the  sun  is  compared  to  a  bridegroom  coming  out 
of  his  chamber,  and  rejoicing  as  a  strong  man  to  run 
a  race. 

Thomson,  in  that  poem  which  will  live  as  long  as 
the  Seasons  which  he  describes  continue  to  visit  the 
earth  with  flowers,  and  fruits,  and  golden  harvests  in 
their  train,  says  of  the  rising  sun, 

"  But  yonder  comes  the  powerful  king  of  day, 
Rejoicing  in  the  east." 


484  WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE. 

Edmund  Burke,  in  his  description  of  the  unfor- 
tunate Maria  Antoinette,  says : 

"It  is  now  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  since  I  saw 
the  Queen  of  France,  then  the  Dauphiness,  at  Ver- 
sailles, and  surely  never  lighted  on  this  orb,  which 
she  hardly  seemed  to  touch,  a  more  delightful  vision. 
I  saw  her  just  above  the  horizon,  decorating  and 
cheering  the  elevated  sphere  she  just  began  to  move 
in,  glittering  like  the  morning  star,  full  of  life,  and 
splendor,  and  joy." 

No  comparisons  can  be  more  felicitous  than  these ; 
for,  independent  of  their  beauty,  they  illustrate  the 
qualities  which  distinguish  the  sexes.  Man  is  the 
sun,  in  his  strength  and  splendor ;  woman  the  morn- 
ing star,  glittering  in  pure  and  tranquil  beauty. 

Nor  is  this  endless  diversity  and  this  all-pervading 
harmony  which  we  see  in  the  universe  without  de- 
sign. It  is  a  law  of  the  universe.  We  read  it  in 
the  sublime  scenery  of  the  heavens  in  which  the 
great  constellations  run  their  courses — where  Arctu- 
rus  and  his  sons  exhibit  their  nightly  splendors,  and 
Orion  leads  up  his  burning  hosts,  and  the  Pleiades 
shed  their  sweet  influences,  and  Mazzaroth  marshals 
his  glorious  stars  over  the  southern  pole;  and  we 
trace  it  in  the  violet  that  springs  up  in  the  depths  of 
the  forest,  and  in  the  fragile  flower  that  blooms  in  ex- 
quisite beauty  in  the  very  verge  of  the  crater  of  the 
volcano,  as  if  planted  there  to  teach  the  adventurous 
traveler  who  explores  the  wild  scenery  that  God's 
dominion  is  every  where. 

Not  only  in  the  visible  universe,  but  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  does  this  law  prevail,  binding  systems  in 


WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE.  485 

unbroken  order,  and  keeping  all  intelligent  beings  in 
subjection  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Most  High. 

It  is  a  glorious  thought,  that  every  where  through- 
out the  extended  universe,  where  the  remotest  world 
gleams  like  a  pale  star  upon  the  farthest  horizon, 
and  out  upon  the  wide  seas  ever  heaving  against  the 
poles ;  in  the  untrodden  solitudes  of  the  wilderness, 
and  in  all  the  ranks  of  living  beings,  from  thrones 
and  dominions  in  heaven  down  to  the  fallen  spirits 
whose  unblessed  feet  tread  the  burning  marl  of  the 
infernal  regions,  we  can  still  trace  the  great  law  of 
order  which  binds  all  things  and  preserves  all  things 
in  unbroken  harmony. 

Woman  in  her  sphere,  moving  in  willing  and  beau- 
tiful accord  with  this  law,  is  one  of  the  loveliest  ob- 
jects which  the  universe  presents ;  and  while  she 
seems  only  to  adorn  the  career  of  man  as  a  subject 
of  his  empire,  her  gentle  dominion  is  as  wide,  and 
her  sway  as  absolute,  if  not  as  imperious,  as  that  of 
man.  In  all  times,  ancient  and  modern,  she  has  been 
the  cherished  object  of  affection.  Her  part  in  the 
history  of  our  race  has  been  at  once  momentous,  sad, 
and  glorious. 

She  first  plucked  the  fruit 

"  Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  wo, 
With  loss  of  Eden." 

Our  great  sire  was  not  deceived;  but  Eve,  being 
tempted,  transgressed,  and  Adam,  from  boundless  af- 
fection for  her,  took  the  forbidden  fruit  from  her 
hands. 

But  it  was  a  woman,  too,  a  virgin  of  innocence 


486  WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE. 

and  beauty,  who  was  the  mother  of  our  Lord,  whose 
all-conquering  arm  brought  us  salvation,  and  rescued 
us  from  the  ruin  into  which  our  race  was  plunged  by 
that  first  fatal  step. 

Let  not  woman  be  reproached  with  her  first  fault 
without  we,  at  the  same  time,  recall  that  virgin  moth- 
er. Place  the  two  pictures  side  by  side ;  compare 
Eve,  with  wandering  steps  and  slow,  quitting  Para- 
dise, and  looking  back,  with  tearful  eyes,  to  that  once 
happy  seat,  with  Mary,  lifting  her  meek  and  glowing 
face  toward  heaven,  and  exclaiming, 

"My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit 
hath  rejoiced  in  God  my  Savior ; 

"  For  he  hath  regarded  the  low  estate  of  his  hand- 
maiden :  for  behold,  from  henceforth  all  generations 
shall  call  me  blessed." 

Since  that  hour  when  the  blessed  Virgin  sang  that 
sweet  song  of  joyful  and  grateful  adoration,  the  whole 
world  of  love  and  beauty  has  acknowledged  her  do- 
minion. The  true  estimate  of  woman  was  unknown 
before.  Up  to  that  hour,  the  homage  paid  by  man 
to  the  other  sex  was  the  wild  passion  which  reveled 
in  voluptuous  delights,  and  which  was  symbolized  in 
the  form  of  Venus  rising  from  the  placid  waters  to 
rule  the  realm  of  love. 

Beautiful  but  sensual,  that  type  of  passion  is  still 
to  be  seen  as  the  ancient  mythology  produced  it ;  the 
naked  form  of  the  Venus  de  Medici  still  lives  in 
marble  as  the  chisel  of  the  sculptor  traced  it  in  lines 
of  classic  and  immortal  grace. 

That  symbol,  beautiful  as  it  is,  represents  the  do- 
minion of  woman  over  the  senses,  but  does  not  sug- 


WOMAH — HER   TRUE   SPHERE.  487 

gest  the  tenderness  and  purity  of  love  in  its  true 
power. 

Even  in  the  wild  extravagance  of  the  days  of  chiv- 
alry there  was  a  refining  influence  in  the  adoration 
of  the  knight  for  his  lady-love :  it  impelled  him  to 
noble  deeds ;  he  wore  in  his  helmet  some  slight  me- 
morial of  her  regard,  and  sought  glory  in  the  fierce 
battles  of  the  times,  that  she  might  hear  his  praises 
sung. 

This  devoted  and  noble  attachment  to  woman  was 
uttered  in  songs  of  wild  and  romantic  beauty,  and 
the  whole  picture  wears  a  golden  haze,  which  reveals 
nothing  gross  or  revolting. 

From  the  hour  when  the  Christian  system  began 
to  gild  the  world  with  its  rising  light,  and  to  purify 
the  heart  by  its  refining  influence,  a  true  regard  for 
woman — for  her  person  and  her  character — has  been 
manifested. 

Now,  the  ideal  of  female  beauty  is  no  longer  per- 
sonified in  the  faultless  form  of  Venus,  but  we  turn 
to  the  lovely  Virgin  dwelling  amid  the  hills  of  Judea, 
and  recognize  her  as  supreme  in  the  realm  of  woman. 
Turning  away  from  the  graceful  form  of  the  ancient 
Queen  of  Love  in  faultless  marble,  we  fix  our  eyes, 
swimming  in  tears,  upon  some  picture  of  Raphael 
which  represents  the  Virgin  Mother,  her  face  full  of 
deep  spiritual  meaning,  as  if  she  would  read  the  fu- 
ture and  learn  the  destiny  of  that  wonderful  Child 
set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in  Israel. 

How  immeasurably  does  the  Christian  impersona- 
tion of  beauty  surpass  that  which  is  presented  to  us 
in  the  highest  type  of  loveliness  which  genius  could 


488  WOMAN HER    TRUE    SPHERE. 

produce  under  the  inspiration  of  mythology!  "Wom- 
an is  now  regarded  as  an  immortal  being ;  she  is  to 
tread  the  path  of  life  by  the  side  of  man,  his  truest 
friend  in  his  earthly  pilgrimage,  cheering  the  dark- 
est hours  with  her  tender  sympathy,  and  shedding  a 
brighter  lustre  over  his  happier  ones  by  sharing  his 
bliss. 

It  is  as  a  wife  and  a  mother  that  woman  is  now 
to  display  her  noblest  qualities  ;  and  her  ambition — 
if  we  may  give  this  name  to  her  desire  to  excel — 
must  not  seek  its  gratification  in  the  great  world,  but 
must  be  content  with  the  quiet  but  hallowed  compass 
of  home.  There  she  moves — a  light,  a  blessing,  and 
a  glory ;  and  she  reconstructs  for  man  a  new  Para- 
dise on  earth,  brighter  and  happier  than  the  Eden 
which  she  lost  for  him.  Man,  expelled  from  the 
bowers  of  the  eastern  garden  by  the  fault  of  woman, 
finds  in  a  home  lighted  by  her  love  Paradise  regained. 

It  is  not  because  she  is  inferior  to  man  that  wom- 
an is  to  take  no  part  in  the  great  affairs  of  life,  but 
it  is  because  she  is  far  more  beautiful  in  her  own  em- 
pire than  she  could  be  by  quitting  it  to  mingle  in 
scenes  which  would  unfit  her  for  the  gentler  duties 
and  those  lovely  offices  which  not  even  an  angel  could 
perform  so  well.  In  her  own  orbit  she  is  peerless, 
and  amid  the  sanctities  of  home  she  shines  with  her 
true  lustre.  Capricious  as  she  sometimes  is  in  the 
world,  and  moving  in  the  circles  of  fashion,  she  re- 
veals in  the  chamber  of  suffering  the  true  qualities 
of  her  nature. 

"  0  woman  !  in  our  hours  of  ease, 
Uncertain,  coy,  and  hard  to  please, 


WOMAN PIER   TRUE    SPHERE.  489 

And  variable  as  the  shade 
By  the  light,  quivering  aspen  made — 
When  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou  !" 

Sir  Walter  Scott  pays  this  tribute  to  Clara  de 
Clare,  as  she  stoops  to  hold  to  the  lips  of  the  wound- 
ed Marmion  the  water  borne  by  her  in  the  baron's 
casque  to  slake  his  thirst.  Brought  by  his  attendants 
to  the  spot  where  the  captive  maiden  was  detained  to 
await  the  issue  of  that  bloody  fight  of  Floddenfield, 
she  forgets  all  wrongs,  and  hastens  to  relieve  the  dy- 
ing man. 

The  picture  is  as  full  of  truth  as  it  is  of  beauty. 

Elizabeth  ruled  her  realm  with  extraordinary  suc- 
cess ;  her  genius  and  capacity  excited  universal  admi- 
ration. During  her  reign  the  power  and  the  glory 
of  England  grew  into  the  grandest  proportions,  and 
the  diadem  which  encircled  her  brow  shone  with  the 
greatest  splendor.  Mounted  on  a  splendid  horse, 
and  riding  at  the  head  of  an  immense  concourse  of 
her  subjects  through  the  streets  of  London,  to  offer 
up  thanks  in  the  great  Protestant  Cathedral  of  Saint 
Paul's  for  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada, 
she  was  a  splendid  spectacle — a  magnificent  imper- 
sonation of  regal  power;  but  who  does  not  really 
feel  a  deeper  and  tenderer  interest  in  the  fortunes  of 
the  beautiful  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  sighing  in  captiv- 
ity, or  even  in  those  of  the  humbler  and  less  culti- 
vated Amy  Hobsart,  the  daughter  of  an  obscure  Dev- 
onshire gentleman,  who  lost  her  life  in  her  eagerness 
to  greet  the  Earl  of  Leicester  as  he  rode  by  the  side 
of  his  royal  mistress  at  the  castle  of  Kenilworth  ?  flancroft  Li 

The  reigning  Queen  of  England  interests  us  far 


490  WOMAN — HER   TRUE   SPHERE. 

more  as  a  wife  and  a  mother  than  as  a  sovereign ; 
for  while  she  commits  the  fortunes  of  that  empire — 
so  boundless  that  the  sun  never  sets  upon  it — to  her 
ministers,  she  herself  rears  her  children,  who  cluster 
about  her  with  all  the  fond  affection  which  we  should 
look  for  in  an  humble  cottage  home.  Victoria,  seat- 
ed upon  the  throne  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  read- 
ing her  royal  speech  upon  the  opening  of  Parliament, 
surrounded  by  all  that  is  gorgeous  in  the  British  em- 
pire— the  lords,  the  commons,  the  great  officers  of 
the  realm,  foreign  embassadors,  and  a  vast  assemblage 
of  ladies  of  rank,  all  in  the  richest  and  most  splendid 
costume — is  merely  a  brilliant  pageant ;  but  in  the 
inner  apartments  of  Windsor  Castle,  that  superb 
country  seat,  unrivaled  by  any  royal  palace  in  the 
world,  she  is  a  woman,  a  wife,  and  a  mother,  the 
centre  of  a  family  group,  and  performing  offices  at 
once  the  most  beautiful  which  this  world  ever  pre- 
sents, and  so  closely  connected  with  a  future  life  that 
the  light  of  immortality  lends  its  sublime  coloring  to 
the  picture. 

This,  then,  is  woman's  true  empire.  Her  author- 
ity is  maintained,  not  by  sword  and  spear,  but  by  all 
the  sweet  and  attractive  graces  which  constitute  the 
art  of  pleasing. 

The  person,  the  mind,  and  the  heart  must  all  re- 
ceive attention,  if  she  would  make  her  rule  lasting 
in  her  own  dominion. 

She  does  not  compel,  but  she  attracts.  We  resist 
her  authority  when  she  seems  to  demand  our  homage, 
but  we  yield  a  willing  obedience  to  her  sway  when 
she  binds  us  by  the  affections. 


WOMAN — HER   TRUE   SPHERE.  491 

Cleopatra  captivated  Julius  Caesar  when  she  was 
but  twenty  years  of  age,  and  she  held  Marc  Antony 
in  inglorious  bondage  at  twenty-five.  But  does  any 
one  imagine  that  Caesar,  the  noblest  Roman  of  them 
all,  was  attracted  by  the  mere  personal  beauty  of  the 
youthful  Queen  of  Egypt? 

He  was  remarkable  for  the  vigor  of  his  mind  and 
the  manliness  of  his  character ;  he  marched  at  the 
head  of  his  legions  to  the  most  distant  and  inhospi- 
table countries,  and  while  his  secretaries  were  borne 
on  litters,  he  rode  on  horseback ;  the  rains  of  Gaul 
did  not  interrupt  his  marches,  nor  did  angry  streams 
impede  him ;  he  bore  the  eagles  of  his  country  in  tri- 
umph over  all  enemies,  whether  cultivated  or  barba- 
rian ;  and  he  recorded  the  progress  of  his  arms  in  a 
style  so  beautiful,  that  his  commentaries  are  still  read 
for  their  classic  elegance.  His  ambition  was  bound- 
less ;  and  though  his  person  was  tall  and  slender,  and 
appeared  to  be  incapable  of  great  exertions,  he  dis- 
played extraordinary  energy.  He  blended  strength 
and  elegance  in  a  remarkable  degree. 

Yet  it  is  quite  authentic  that  he  could  not  resist 
the  fascination  of  Cleopatra,  but  for  a  time  yielded 
himself  to  her  charms. 

Five  years  later,  Antony,  being  in  the  East,  saw 
Cleopatra,  and  surrendered  himself  to  her  completely. 
In  his  wild  passion,  Rome,  Octavia,  and  glory  were 
all  forgotten,  and  at  her  feet  he  lay  down  his  share 
in  that  powerful  triumvirate  which  held  the  majestic 
world  in  subjection.  In  her  presence  his  character- 
istic energy  was  lost,  and  his  conquering  legions, 
ready  for  battle  and  victory,  lay  in  inglorious  idle- 


492  WOMAN HER    TRUE    SPHERE. 

ness,  while  he,  their  leader,  bound  by  a  spell  which 
he  could  not  break,  passed  his  time  in  the  gilded 
apartments  of  the  Queen  of  Egypt. 

No  mere  personal  beauty  could  have  effected  such 
conquests  as  these.  Cleopatra  possessed  far  higher 
charms  than  mere  grace  of  person.  She  is  described 
in  history  as  possessing  an  infinite  variety  of  accom- 
plishments—  the  rarest  literary  acquirements,  a 
knowledge  of  languages  only  equaled  in  ancient  times 
by  that  attributed  to  Mithridates,  the  marvelous  king 
of  Pontus,  the  finest  taste  in  the  arts,  an  unexplain- 
able  grace  in  her  manners,  the  most  bewitching 
powers  of  conversation,  and  a  tone  of  voice  which 
made  those  powers  irresistible.  There  was  a  won- 
derful fascination  in  the  tone  of  her  voice,  and  there 
was  about  her  an  Oriental  voluptuousness  and  an  ir- 
resistible grace ;  but  without  her  mental  accomplish- 
ments, her  brilliant  conversation,  her  noble  spirit,  the 
grandeur  of  her  character,  and  her  fascinating  man- 
ners, she  would  never  have  been  the  enchantress  she 
was,  bringing  to  her  feet  the  proudest  rulers  of  the 
world,  and  holding  in  subjection  such  men  as  Csesar, 
with  his  soaring  ambition  and  powerful  intellect,  and 
Antony,  renowned  for  his  valor  and  his  eloquence. 

Her  death  was  characteristic :  with  no  religion  to 
sustain  her  but  that  of  the  Egyptians,  which  threw  a 
voluptuous  elegance  over  life,  and  gave  the  fullest 
license  to  the  senses,  she  resolved  to  die  rather  than 
grace  the  triumphal  train  of  Octavius.  Adorned  in 
her  richest  robes,  the  body  of  the  dead  Antony  by 
her  side  on  a  golden  couch,  anointing  herself  with 
costly  perfumes,  the  diadem  of  Egypt  encircling  her 


WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE.  493 

brow,  she  applied  the  asp  to  her  veins,  and  sunk  into 
languor,  forgetfulness,  and  death. 

Beauty  is  always  attractive;  but  no  woman  who 
aspires  to  a  lasting  dominion,  either  over  the  great 
world,  or,  which  is  far  better,  over  a  single  heart, 
ought  to  trust  to  personal  charms. 

Even  while  they  bloom,  though  it  be  in  peerless 
splendor,  they  are  less  potent  than  the  sweet  spirit 
of  a  true  woman  beaming  from  her  eyes,  and  a  culti- 
vated mind  revealing  its  treasures  in  conversation. 
Such  a  woman  wakes  the  soul  within  us,  and  binds 
us  by  a  fascination  which  far  transcends  the  strength 
of  mere  passion  kindled  by  beauty.  An  intellectual, 
cultivated  woman^  of  sweet  temper,  will  hold  us  in 
pleasing  bonds  long  after  the  decline  of  her  personal 
charms,  and  we  might  address  her  in  those  lines  of 
exquisite  tenderness  and  beauty, 

"  Thou  wouldst  still  be  adored,  as  this  moment  thou  art, 

Let  thy  loveliness  fade  as  it  will, 
And  round  the  dear  ruin  each  wish  of  my  heart 
Would  twine  itself  verdantly  still." 

The  first  great  element  which  we  desire  to  see  in 
female  character  is  virtuous  principle ;  not  a  mere 
disposition  to  conform  to  conventional  requirements, 
but  a  heart  really  pure  and  fond  of  goodness.  With- 
out this,  no  beauty,  no  intellectual  cultivation,  no  ac- 
complishments, can  make  a  woman  really  lovely.  It 
is  this  property  which 

"  Gives  to  woman  every  tender  grace, 
The  smile  of  angels  to  a  mortal  face." 

In  this  world,  so  full  of  vicissitude,  and  over 
whose  expanding  scenes  the  clouds  of  the  future, 


494  WOMAN HER    TRUE    SPHERE. 

darker  or  brighter,  will  rise,  there  is  much  to  try  us ; 
and  in  seeking  a  gentle  friend  to  tread  the  rough  pil- 
grimage of  life  by  our  side,  we  wish  to  find  in  her  a 
sweetness  of  temper  which  nothing  can  disturb,  and 
a  cheerful  spirit  which  flings  its  smile  over  the  shad- 
ows of  life,  and  if  it  can  not  disperse,  at  least  gilds 
them. 

Philosophy  will  not  do  ;  intellectual  resources  will 
fail ;  books  will  open  their  pages  to  us  in  vain ;  mu- 
sic will  lose  its  charms ;  amusements  will  cease  to  at- 
tract us ;  and  even  society  may  no  longer  interest  us ; 
but  we  can  still  turn  to  the  angel  of  our  home,  and 
find  in  her  beaming  and  happy  face  a  solace  for  all 
our  disappointments  in  the  rough,  wide,  and  heartless 
world. 

The  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ 
is  essential  to  the  perfection  of  female  character :  it 
is  the  only  resource  which  the  ills  of  life  can  not  ex- 
haust. 

Charity  never  faileth. 

An  infidel  of  our  own  sex  is  odious  enough ;  a 
woman  who  rejects  Christianity  is  an  object  of  un- 
mixed and  unmeasured  aversion. 

It  is  her  task  to  train  her  children,  to  fit  them  for 
this  life  and  for  that  which  is  to  come,  and  to  cheer 
her  husband  when  cares  press  upon  him;  and  this 
she  can  not  do  unless,  like  Hope,  she  leans  upon  an 
anchor  which  never  gives  way. 

Such,  young  ladies,  are  our  views  of  woman. 

One  of  the  most  promising  signs  of  the  times  in 
which  we  live  is  the  extraordinary  attention  paid  to 
the  education  of  your  sex.  Such  institutions  as  this 


WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE.  495 

are  glorious  exponents  of  the  progress  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Here  woman  moves  in  her  true 
sphere,  and  her  influence  over  the  great  social  life 
which  our  country  exhibits  is  powerful. 

When  in  Europe,  we  saw  gorgeous  palaces,  and 
great  schools  of  art,  and  noble  monuments  commem- 
orating battles  which  have  decided  the  fortunes  of 
the  world,  and  an  endless  variety  of  objects  of  inter- 
est, but  nowhere  did  we  see  any  thing  more  beauti- 
ful than  this  spectacle  which  we  witness  to-day. 

In  this  country  all  the  material  elements  abound, 
and  we  shall  yet  excel  in  the  arts  which  give  such 
a  charm  to  life.  In  all  that  is  grand,  and  beautiful, 
and  truly  great,  we  shall  steadily  grow,  until  we  at- 
tain the  highest  civilization  which  the  world  has  ever 
produced.  It  should  be  our  aim  so  to  train  our  sons 
and  our  daughters  in  this  great  republic  that  they 
may  be  worthy  of  the  grand  destiny  which  opens  be- 
fore them  in  the  boundless  future.  Some  of  you  are 
about  to  take  leave  of  this  institution.  Go  forth 
as  ministering  angels;  make  the  world  better  and 
happier  as  you  pass  along  through  it.  So  far  you 
have  been  engaged  in  the  work  of  preparation,  but 
real  life  now  opens  before  you.  No  one  can  read  the 
future :  there  is  no  astrologer  at  hand  to  consult  the 
starlit  heavens  and  reveal  your  destiny.  This  is 
wisely  ordered:  we  are  taught  to  trust  to  the  guid- 
ance of  an  invisible  hand.  There  are  all  about  us 
influences  which  act  upon  us  in  life :  we  can  only  re- 
solve to  do  our  duty,  and  commit  our  fortunes  to  the 
Deity.  Exclude  from  your  minds  the  doctrine  of 
chance ;  adhere  firmly  to  principle,  and  in  this  well- 


496  WOMAN HER    TRUE    SPHERE. 

ordered  universe  you  will  find  that  you  tread  life's 
paths  safely ;  the  ground  beneath  your  feet  will  be 
firm,  and  the  heavens  above  will  light  you  on  your 
way. 

Be  cheerful,  that  you  may  be  happy,  and  contrib- 
ute to  the  happiness  of  others ;  but  regard  life  seri- 
ously, as  the  field  of  duty  and  the  scene  of  prepara- 
tion for  heaven. 

One  of  the  most  gifted  of  your  own-  sex,  Madam 
de  Stae'l,  in  her  work  on  Germany,  says,  "If  we  ex- 
amine the  course  of  human  destiny,  we  shall  see  that 
levity  conducts  to  all  that  is  bad  in  the  world.  It  is 
only  in  infancy  that  levity  charms :  it  seems  that  the 
Creator  yet  leads  the  infant  by  the  hand,, and  aids  it 
to  enter  gently  upon  the  clouds  of  life.  But  when 
time  delivers  the  man  to  himself,  it  is  only  in  seri- 
ousness of  soul  that  he  finds  thoughts,  sentiments, 
and  virtues." 

Be  true  to  yourselves.  Modern  civilization,  with 
all  its  ameliorations,  has  a  tendency  to  give  too  much 
consideration  to  wealth.  Advantages  in  life  are  not 
to  be  overlooked,  and  in  forming  lasting  engagements 
prudence  ought  to  be  regarded.  But  woman  should 
never  sacrifice  herself,  nor  permit  others  to  sacrifice 
her,  for  money.  Noble  qualities,  a  cultivated  intel- 
lect, and  a  great  soul,  are  worth  more  than  all  the 
money  the  world  ever  produced. 

Riches  take  wings,  and  often  leave  their  possessor 
to  sink  as  Icarus  did  when  his  waxen  pinions  melted 
in  the  sun ;  but  a  true  man  continues  to  grow  in 
public  consideration  and  in  real  worth,  rising  from 
poverty  and  obscurity  to  the  highest  stations  in  life. 


WOMAN HER   TRUE    SPHERE.  497 

And  now,  young  ladies,  I  must  take  leave  of  you. 
It  may  be  said  of  you,  as  it  was  of  our  first  parents, 

"  The  world  is  all  before  you,  where  to  choose 
Your  place  of  rest,  and  Providence  your  guide." 

May  the  world  be  bright  before  you,  and  your 
steps,  as  they  advance  in  its  paths,  be  guided  by 
Providence  gently  and  safely,  so  that  you  may  come, 
when  your  -earthly  pilgrimage  is  ended,  to  that  glori- 
ous city  where  there  is  no  need  of  the  sun  by  day, 
nor  of  the  moon  by  night,  but  the  Lord  GOD  himself 
lights  it  up  with  his  own  everlasting  splendor. 

Ir 


THE    END. 


; 


I 


HH 

£7 


